[Occupymendocino] Carter on US democracy

[ELLEN ROSSER]

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‘America has no functioning democracy’ – Jimmy Carter on NSA
Published time: July 18, 2013 12:15
Edited time: July 19, 2013 10:39
Get short URL <http://rt.com/usa/carter-comment-nsa-snowden-261/>
[image: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP)]

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP)
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Former US President Jimmy Carter lambasted US intelligence methods as
undemocratic and described Edward Snowden’s NSA leak as “beneficial” for
the country.

Carter lashed out at the US political system when the issue of the
previously top-secret NSA surveillance program was touched upon at the
Atlantic Bridge meeting on Tuesday in Atlanta, Georgia.

"*America has no functioning democracy at this moment*," Carter said,
according to Der Spiegel.

He also believes the spying-scandal is undermining democracy around the
world, as people become increasingly suspicious of US internet platforms,
such as Google and Facebook. While such mediums have normally been
associated with freedom of speech and have recently become a major driving
force behind emerging democratic movements, fallout from the NSA spying
scandal has dented their credibility.

It’s not the first time Carter has criticized US intelligence policies. In
a previous interview with
CNN, he said the NSA leaks signified that “*the invasion of human rights
and American privacy has gone too far*." He added that although Snowden
violated US law, he may have ultimately done good for the country.

"*I think that the secrecy that has been surrounding this invasion of
privacy has been excessive, so I think that the bringing of it to the
public notice has probably been, in the long term, beneficial*."

Jimmy Carter was President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. After
leaving office, he founded the Carter Center, an NGO advocating human
rights. The ex-president’s human rights credentials won him Nobel Peace
Prize in 2002.

Carter has frequently criticized his successors in the White House. Last
year, he condemned the Obama administration for the use of drone
attacks<http://rt.com/usa/carter-article-us-drones-677/> in
his article "A Cruel and Unusual Record" published in the New York Times.
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