Live data from Hacker News

Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

bbc.co.uk

241–250 of 1001 posts

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assange has a lot more enemies than the ones you choose to believe. Considering the Panama Papers were pretty much a long expose of Russian and Middle-East corruption, much moreso than the West, I suspect a lot of angry autocrats and dictators would like a piece of him too and they're not shy about war crimes or assassinating journalists. The leaks he's released target dozens of nations. He has a lot of enemies: http…

Yeah, because killing Assange would re-hide the documents. Brilliant. I'm sure they wouldn't shed any tears but it's unlikely they'll try to draw more attention to themselves. There's really only one group large enough to do what they want, damn the consequences.

It might not re-hide the documents, but it does send a message.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#242
post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I'm sure that there was no way this could have been done faster and that the statue of limitations in Sweden running out had nothing to do with it. /s

>the statue of limitations in Sweden running out had nothing to do with it. /s The rape allegations won't be past the limit until 2020.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/sweden-runs-out-of-time-on-parts...

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#243

> Is the whole embassy shut down? Not likely. They're not just going to cut his Internet and then drone him the same day. They're hoping he comes out on his own. My guess is that if they decide to kill him they'd likely do it next Friday evening, on the bet that the deadman's switch has a 14-day timeout.

What in the world makes you think they'd kill Assange? That seems extreme.

Seth Rich would agree.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#244
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What in the world makes you think they'd kill Assange? That seems extreme.

How about Hillary Clinton literally saying "Can't we just drone this guy?" [1] [1] https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/782906224937410562

Yes, a drone strike in the middle of the capital city of our closest ally, obviously that was a serious suggestion....

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea or it could just be the internet is down. It happens to regular people all the time.

Unlikely, there are clearly moves being made today against Russian-backed and allegedly Russian-backed propaganda outfits. RT just had its bank accounts frozen in the UK as well. Also, have you ever heard of LTE?

Perhaps, though there is just one unsubstantiated claim and he obviously still has some access since the claim was made online.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#246

> so what exactly will this accomplish… Many things! Instill a fear may be. Demonstrate their power to kill at will and their willingness to do so. Prevent outing of more truths about the Silicon Valley-Washington DC alliance. Meh. Let the downvotes begin… :)

Assange has a lot more enemies than the ones you choose to believe. Considering the Panama Papers were pretty much a long expose of Russian and Middle-East corruption, much moreso than the West, I suspect a lot of angry autocrats and dictators would like a piece of him too and they're not shy about war crimes or assassinating journalists. The leaks he's released target dozens of nations. He has a lot of enemies: http…

Assange was NOT behind the Panama papers. Like you said that exposed Putin corruption so Assange called it a hitjob on Putin.

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/717670056650530816

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As Archer would say: "Do you want terrorist groups? Because this is how you get terrorist groups." Or, another way, one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. What option are citizens left with when state collusion to deny people their basic rights occurs in broad daylight?

Which is exactly why I deplore the term "terrorist". The U.S. throws the term terrorist around with reckless abandon while proudly parading its strategy of "Shock and Awe"[1] and weapons like the "Daisy Cutter"[2] around on CNN. How are those two examples anything other than naked attempts to instill terror in it's enemies??? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_and_awe [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLU-82

Because the laws of war is different when you have civilians as your main targets?

Here is my standard reference about the subject. Note that it is critical of the US -- and that ROE is still followed quite closely. Compare that to [terrorists and non democracies].

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n04/michael-byers/the-laws-of-war-u...

(Are you really surprised by the content of this answer..?)

----

Edit: My answer to throwaway98237's deleted follow up comment:

>> a small band of tribes from Afghanistan

>> Also, the "laws of war" have evolved over time.

You went from: Setting an equal sign between terrorists and real armies (which use legal weapons psychological warfare against enemy soldiers, not against civilians).

To: Excusing terrorists because (a) some of them also do guerrilla warfare and (b) because the laws of war were a bit different 50+ years ago?

That is just not coherent.

Bye.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#248
He is, at the instigation of a hostile foreign government, eyeball-deep in criminal activity designed to interfere with a democratic election being conducted by an Ecuadorean ally.

Cut off his wifi? Little toad is lucky they just don't boot him out onto the pavement.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#249
post #235

I'm a bit confused by all the comments here spinning off down conspiracy theories, but not much on facts. "State actor" can only really mean UK or Ecuadorian government - or at the very least one of those two must be pulling the trigger. If it's Ecuador that makes some sense, they control the connections to the outside world - they could just change some passwords and internet is cut. But that would be very obviously…

That's because there are no facts. We don't even know if the internet was cut in the first place. (One wonders how they managed to post to Twitter without internet access.) The "state actor" part is completely unsubstantiated.

The third option you've missed is "this is all bullshit." Either because it's not happening at all, or because the embassy's internet is down due to some routine outage.

Re: Wikileaks: Julian Assange's internet access 'cut'

#250
post #221
post #187

I am getting so damn sick of all of the corruption we're seeing in governments all around the world, including the US/UK. Makes me want to vote for Trump and take the whole crooked system down (unfortunately, that would cause a LOT of pain for good everyday people).

Yeah, the best way to cure a flu is to shoot yourself in the head.

Hey, it would work! But you're right - it's an irrational response to a very frustrating situation of feeling powerless to fix things that are so obviously wrong.
Post reply on HN