The New York Times editorial board rung in the new year with a full-throated defense of Edward Snowden, arguing the whistle-blower has "done his country a great service" and "deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and flight."

All of this is entirely because of information provided to journalists by Edward Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor who stole a trove of highly classified documents after he became disillusioned with the agency’s voraciousness. Mr. Snowden is now living in Russia, on the run from American charges of espionage and theft, and he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life looking over his shoulder.

Considering the enormous value of the information he has revealed, and the abuses he has exposed, Mr. Snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and flight. He may have committed a crime to do so, but he has done his country a great service. It is time for the United States to offer Mr. Snowden a plea bargain or some form of clemency that would allow him to return home, face at least substantially reduced punishment in light of his role as a whistle-blower, and have the hope of a life advocating for greater privacy and far stronger oversight of the runaway intelligence community.

The argument over whether Snowden is a whistle-blower or a traitor still rages. While Snowden claims to have contacted his superiors before exposing the federal programs, there is no proof of his claim. Snowden made no attempt to contact libertarian members of Congress such as Rand Paul, who would object to the NSA programs and fight them without exposing them to the world. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle accuse Snowden of damaging national security with his leaks.

Many who come to his defense forget that Snowden said he went to work at Booz Allen with the intention of finding NSA wrong-doing and exposing it to the press. In an interview he gave to the South China Morning Post Snowden said:

"My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked," he told the Post on June 12. "That is why I accepted that position about three months ago."