Snowden traitor or hero?

We all know the story, Edward Snowden, leaked information he thought was in the best interest of the US public about the US's monitoring of information...is he a hero or a traitor.

Let's look at this another way....

You join a company that is developing a top secret software.  On joining the company you sign NDA's and a binding contract that you will not reveal any secret and sensitive material.  After a couple of months you discover that the software the company is developing is morally at odds with you.  If you reveal this publicly, you would be sued, have restraining orders placed against you and probably end up in court for a long time.  That isn't the material of a hero.

So why is Snowden considered by some a hero?

Is there a difference between the NDA's he signed and contract with the NSA he entered into?

Firstly, unless you believe that you're living in a real life Pleasantville, is it ANY surprise to you that your government is monitoring cell phones, emails or any mass electronic communication?  We're certainly not living in Russia, (and neither is Snowden by the looks of it), but it should be pretty obvious that your emails are being scanned/skimmed for telltale words and word chains that might be an indication of terrorism.  It doesn't mean that some poor government idiot is sitting there reading my emails or listening to my calls.  If I could prevent one incident of terrorism, I say go at it, read away, (you'll be bored to death, but read away).

Snowden betrayed the trust placed in him by the NSA, and therefore the American people.  He is now threatening to release more informations, "that could bring down the government".  Firstly, I doubt he had that level of clearance, but even if he did, to threaten this is purely treason. Every government in the world is doing things that we wouldn't be proud to be a part of, be aware of, or probably condone, but it doesn't mean it's not happening.

People were up in arms about water boarding terrorist suspects, it's inhuman and against human rights...well so is flying a plane into a building and killing 3,000 innocent people. If your son or daughter was killed in 9/11 I would imagine you would be lining up to water board anyone to find Osama Bin Laden or anyone to blame.  My point is, things like this happen, and 99% of these things we know nothing about, nor should we.  If you join a government security organization and agree to be bound by their secrecy rules, that's what you're signing up for.  Making public sensitive information and breaking your confidentiality agreement is not whistle blowing, it's treason.

Again, if this were a private company Snowden would be in court now looking a life changing damages.

So Snowden...hero whistleblower or traitor? I say traitor.