‘JFK’s’ Oliver Stone Criticizes Obama’s Handling of U.S. Spying and Wiretapping, Comments on Edward Snowden Leaks

On the anniversary of JFK’s assassination, Oliver Stone took time to criticize President Obama’s handling of various NSA programs--including spying on and wiretapping U.S. citizens. The legendary director also took time to comment on the leaks of Edward Snowden. We have a partial transcript of the Huffington Post’s revealing interview.

Oliver Stone is celebrating a pretty major anniversary today. Twenty years ago, he released his landmark film, JFK. Unfortunately, that’s not the only anniversary being acknowledged today.

Today, 50 years ago, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Of course, if you’ve flipped on the History Channel within the past week, you’re probably aware of that.

When asked what he thought made Obama reverse course on his decision not to spy on U.S. citizens, the groundbreaking director responded:

“I thought a lot about that. And I would say to you that if you are a young president -- like Kennedy was -- and you're subjected day to day to military security intelligence issues, where you're constantly dealing with threats to your life and threats from the enemy, it can magnify in your mind quickly. It becomes a sole-issue kind of thing. So, all of a sudden, yeah, the threats of the Soviets are much more magnified than they really are. That's the nature of concentration. So, when you allow the military industrial complex to come in with all of there considerations and maps and geopolitics and power, life becomes a game of power. I think that's what happens to these presidents, but I do think you have to envision beyond what your people are telling you. To see "what is my moral vision of the universe?" Perhaps you can have one that is peaceful.

“And I think that Obama shocked me because, if anything, he seemed to understand, at least briefly, the idea that this war on terror was a hyped up bill of goods. And then when he bought into it very quickly -- possibly at the same time he started to take that campaign money. I don't know. When he started to take huge money, why did he go to a private option when the public option was working for him? He would have been elected.”