CIA chief blasts Snowden in wake of Paris attacks

November 19, 2015 01:49

CIA Director John Brennan today blasted former analyst Edward Snowden, saying his intelligence leaks had undermined US security.

The comments from Brennan come at a time of growing debate following last week's attacks in Paris about whether intelligence services have enough tools at their disposal to deal with tech-savvy jihadists as they plan attacks.

"Any unauthorised disclosures that are made by individuals who have dishonoured the oath of office that they raised their hand and attested to undermines this country's security," Brennan said at a Washington event in response to a question about Snowden.

"Hero-izing such individuals I find to be unfathomable as far as what it is that this country needs to be able to do again in order to keep itself safe."

Brennan on Monday made a pitch for reviewing curbs placed on intelligence services' surveillance capabilities, saying leaks and "handwringing" had made international efforts to track down terrorists more challenging.

The New York Times said in an opinion piece today that the comments by America's top spy were "disgraceful" and that the issue in last week's attacks in Paris was not a lack of data, "but a failure to act on information authorities already had."

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