Updated: France, Italy reject Snowden asylum request

[MineralMan]

1. It appears that most countries have asylum rules that say,

"First, come here, and then we'll talk about your request."

In some ways, that makes sense. It will, however, create some serious obstacles for Snowden, who appears to be stuck in a transit terminal in Moscow.

Worse, since all nations have some sort of intelligence system they would prefer remained secret to some extent or another, they might not think well of a person applying for asylum for disclosing such things.

There may be countries that wouldn't care, and that would grant asylum to Snowden, but they may not be countries where he would be comfortable, and most of those are far less concerned with liberty and freedom that he would prefer. I'm sure North Korea would accept him for asylum, if he could get there. I doubt he's interested in that possibility, though.

I'm not entirely certain that Mr. Snowden gave full consideration to what he did and what the aftermath might be. He may also have received bad advice from people who had themselves in mind, rather than Snowden, when they offered the advice.