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The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

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Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Knowingly aiding a foreign government in their efforts to undermine an election is treason. Assange is not a US citizen.

I don't believe citizenship is a requirement to be convicted of treason. There are a lot of members of the U.S. military who are not citizens. Surely they would be guilty of treason if they divulged secrets or aided a foreign country. People with green cards as well. Not that either of those situations apply to Assange. I've definitely read several news articles that say he stands accused of both treason and espionag…

Yes, none of those scenarios apply to assange. How does it matter if he has visited the US at some point in the past. It would be hilarious if he gets charged with treason. That might encourage MBS to charge Erdogan with treason!

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#272
post #64

By doing this the US is coming to the aid of the many dictators and despots whose crimes Assange has helped reveal. Also, by ignoring the crimes revealed by the Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, the US makes it very clear that war-making cronies rule both parties and would never hold each other accountable for anything. To be clear, the war logs revealed that the US classified information solely because it revealed that…

While some of the things that were exposed were certainly illegal and should be handled as such, it's hard to feel any empathy for a guy who is essentially a Russian asset. If you think of him as an extension of Russian military intelligence conducting propaganda wars against its adversaries then it becomes a lot easier to understand why prosecuting him is a genuinely good thing. Russia airing the dirty laundry of ot…

Any citation for your opinion because you're completely full of shit.

HN is completely owned by pro to government assets. Fuck this community and the highly bias moderators.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#273

If true, this suggests that previous articles about assange being 'practically free to go', and 'just staying in the embassy for attention' were misinformed.

He's always been free to go, just that he'd likely to be arrested.

Unclear what article you are referring to in the 'staying for attention' reference.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#274
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that excuse the war crimes that were committed?

No, but do the war crimes the US committed mean that Assange is not guilty of being a Russian asset?

How is being a Russian asset a crime? Even if he released only documents provided by the Russians and ignored other ones (which is debatable), how is that bad as long as said documents are not forged?

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans (and I sadly speak for all 300mm+ of us) no longer give a flying fuck about illegal wars or mass murder. There is no peace movement, there won’t be ever again. Citizens will ignore the wars and entertain them selves by rage posting about either the red or blue team

I care a lot about the genocide and illegal wars :( I've written online under my real name and fake names, I've done deep original research, some of it gets fairly decent traction. I think we all actually are legitimately powerless to stop the war machine and the majority of Americans who actually support it... so the rest of us are lost to apathy.

Good on you. I hope it takes.

And yeah, I believe that we are legit powerless to do anything about it. No party is a peace/non-intervention party.

I don’t think that most Americans support the war aspect of the machine. It’s apathy for some and learned helplessness for others.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#276
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we know that Wikileaks has always released full documents and data sets, or do we just take their website at face value that he's truly never been selective on what to publish?

Anyone who wishes to discredit Wikileaks has a strong incentive to release documents which could cast doubt on the authenticity of a Wikileaks release, and in turn the organization as a whole. Many people wish to discredit Wikileaks. So far no one has provided evidence that Wikileaks has ever doctored, edited or manufactured anything in their releases. I think that indicates something, but it's certainly not conclusi…

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea but nobody remembers those.

Like the Iraq Warlogs, or DWS scandal. Even leaks like the Stratfor files are certainly in the best interests of the "little guy," if anyone actually gives a shit about them. But if "all a man is, is what others say of him," then by watching the news, Assange is just a Russian agent.

> But if "all a man is, is what others say of him," then by watching the news, Assange is just a Russian agent.

One of the most interesting aspect of the assange story is how the news industry celebrated assange in the early part of the 2010s and then started to demonize him in the past few years. It was all so sudden as if someone flipped a switch and everyone got on the same message.

It's also interesting how sexual assault accusations were used to take down assange just like it was used for kavanaugh.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#278
What are the planned charges likely to be for?

My understanding is that the original leaks were likely to be difficult to win a case over. His actions during the 2016 election campaign maybe a different story though. It's unclear exactly what he is alleged to have done.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#279
post #273

If true, this suggests that previous articles about assange being 'practically free to go', and 'just staying in the embassy for attention' were misinformed.

He's always been free to go, just that he'd likely to be arrested. Unclear what article you are referring to in the 'staying for attention' reference.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/julia...

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#280
post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While some of the things that were exposed were certainly illegal and should be handled as such, it's hard to feel any empathy for a guy who is essentially a Russian asset. If you think of him as an extension of Russian military intelligence conducting propaganda wars against its adversaries then it becomes a lot easier to understand why prosecuting him is a genuinely good thing. Russia airing the dirty laundry of ot…

Russia airing the dirty laundry through a side channel is MUCH more benevolent than the other things (like blackmailing our world leaders) they could do with this. I don't think all of Wikileaks' revelations are from Russia, but even if they all are - and Russia had selfish motivations - it was a benevolent act toward the world. Truth is power, and revealing the truth to the powerless is never an evil act.

Well said. Thank you.
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