Gen. Martin Dempsey: Two years and billions of dollars to overcome Edward Snowden leaks

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has said that it will take the US two years and possibly billions of dollars to overcome the harm done by Edward Snowden’s intelligence leaks.

Gen. Martin Dempsey said the “vast majority” of documents taken by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden were military-related.

Since last year, news organizations have published dozens of stories based on the leaked intelligence documents.

Edward Snowden faces spying charges in the US but has been given asylum in Russia.

Gen. Martin Dempsey told the House armed services committee on Thursday that a mitigation task force had been established to investigate the extent of Edward Snowden’s theft and to determine how to overcome it.

“The vast majority of [the pilfered documents] were related to our military capabilities, operations, tactics, techniques and procedures,” Martin Dempsey said.

Gen. Martin Dempsey said the “magnitude of this challenge” suggested the task force would need to run for about two years.