Source: Jakarta Globe:

Leaks from Edward Snowden have helped America’s adversaries and represent the most serious breach of classified information in US history, the CIA’s former number-two ranking official said in an interview Friday.

Michael Morrell, who served as deputy director and acting director of the CIA, told CBS television’s “60 Minutes” program that the former intelligence contractor’s disclosures have damaged efforts to track possible terror threats.

“What Edward Snowden did — has put Americans at greater risk — because terrorists learn from leaks and they will be more careful, and we will not get the intelligence we would have gotten otherwise,” said Morrell, who recently stepped down after 33 years at the CIA.

Snowden has portrayed himself as a whistleblower concerned about National Security Agency eavesdropping and other secret surveillance, but Morrell said the former contractor was a traitor to his country.

“I think this is the most serious leak — the most serious compromise of classified information in the history of the US intelligence community,” he said.

The most damaging disclosure from Snowden exposed the intelligence community’s secret budget, or “black book,” Morrell said.

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