Slate's Farhad Manjoo first wondered if National Security Agency leak source Edward Snowden actually wrote the statement released by WikiLeaks Monday night, pointing to the unusual use of the plural "have been" to refer to the United States of America.
WikiLeaks has now edited that portion of the letter, changing it to the more common, singular "has been" to refer to the U.S.
Here's the original statement:
And the edited statement:
Another odd element in the letter is Snowden's European-style marking of the date — "Monday 1st July 2013," instead of "Monday, July 1st."
In the statement, Snowden blasted the Obama administration for using "old, bad tools of political aggression" in seeking to block countries from granting him asylum.
"Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me," he said.