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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

#391

Post by wallace_f »

FireBeyond wrote: post #378
thanosnose wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 sexua…

Come on. If the best a state level actor can do to "bring down" a person, they'd most likely manage something more untoward than "had consensual sex with someone, but questionable consent over the use of a condom". I think that more points to a narcissistic type, than a conspiracy on a state bent on character assassination.=

Why would you be surprised by ineptitude, or willingness to conspire, here, anyways? You should read about the Gulf of Tonkin, Iran Contra, watch the documentary 1971(1), McCarthyism, the FBI's dealings with MLK, or read about Gary Webb. It's not surprising.

The FBI apparently sent agents to other countries trying to frame Assange. Iceland told them to fuck off: www.katoikos.eu/interview/icelandic-minister-who-refused-cooperation-with-the-fbi-ogmundur-jonasson-in-an-interview.html

Many also claim Assange has proof he was conspired against, or at least was innocent: https://abc.net.au/news/2016-12-07/julian-assange-goes-publi...

1 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_(2014_film)

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#392

Post by FireBeyond »

komali2 wrote: post #63
eeks wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wikileaks believed at the time that Clinton was ready to send a drone to get rid of Assange. Between due process and a drone attack, I take due process any day.

That's an obviously absurd belief given he's in an embassy. The USA has done a lot of insane shit but that would be a ridiculous line to cross to eliminate a single "criminal."

They also believed that the British military had "sealed off several London blocks, aiming rifles at British civilians, had police confiscating cameras, 'which in any case wouldn't work because they were deploying technology to interfere with digital cameras while they raided the Embassy'."

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#393

Post by sjg007 »

FireBeyond wrote: post #386
sjg007 wrote: post #364

I hope and pray that some smart lawyers come to his defense in both in England, Ecuador, and the USA. I hope that "we" are collectively smart enough to support him (and Snowden). He is probably not a Russian agent... all of that talk is a distraction (especially with Mueller).. if Russia left him out to dry then they would seriously curtail their intelligence operations... after all memes and fake news are far more e…

Why so? He has shown himself over time to be someone who has constantly reneged on his responsibilities, made obtuse efforts to be "understanding" when he has no standing ("offering" to be interviewed via video from the embassy - who else gets to decide how, when, where and if they are interviewed on criminal charges?), and shown himself to be entirely partisan in his motives when it comes down to it. Why should "we"…

What exactly is partisan?

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#394

Post by wallace_f »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #372
colordrops wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would you compare his reporting to the likes of CNN and FOX?

Shep Smith and the news anchors at CNN at least do a reasonable job of reporting the news correctly (which Greenwald can't), though none of those does strong investigative journalism.

Ok can you give me a couple of examples of these egregious errors by Greenwald you're talking about?

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#395

Post by ryanlol »

hnmonkey wrote: post #169
tw04 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How exactly do you know he isn't working directly for Russian intelligence?

Good question. I don't. But it's much more unlikely that he'd be an actual Russian intelligence employee since they're usually Russian I think. The more simple answer is that he's just being run by them through money, blackmail, extortion, or some other leverage. Why employ someone when you can just get them to do what you want with simple threats?

I’m sorry, but this sounds really crazy. Why would Russian intelligence need to “run” Assange through some kind of leverage? What exactly makes you think this?

His hatred towards the US goes back a very long time and has certainly only grown stronger given how he’s been treated.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#396

Post by brokenmachine »

coretx wrote: post #307
komali2 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an obviously absurd belief given he's in an embassy. The USA has done a lot of insane shit but that would be a ridiculous line to cross to eliminate a single "criminal."

I'll give you some absurd and ridiculous details. When the WL backend for collateral murder was hosted at bahnhof in Sweden, moving it to .CH was among other reasons done because of certainly the US, and specifically & allegedly homeland security having launched a DDOS attack so strong it could have kicked Sweden offline. When US agents started their smearing campaign against Assange in Sweden, they accidentally adde…

> When US agents started their smearing campaign against Assange in Sweden, they accidentally added smear to wikipedia that did not happen yet.

Citation?

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#397

Post by FireBeyond »

sjg007 wrote: post #393
FireBeyond wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why so? He has shown himself over time to be someone who has constantly reneged on his responsibilities, made obtuse efforts to be "understanding" when he has no standing ("offering" to be interviewed via video from the embassy - who else gets to decide how, when, where and if they are interviewed on criminal charges?), and shown himself to be entirely partisan in his motives when it comes down to it. Why should "we"…

What exactly is partisan?

Contrived and controlled releases to influence a narrative in a particular desired direction.

Being given a trove of documents categorized as misdeeds by both sides of government and largely sitting on those by one side, and releasing those that adversely impact the other. Partisan.

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#398

Post by kristjansson »

cwkoss wrote: post #239
hnmonkey wrote: post #112

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.

The question is whether WL has passively (or worse, actively) allowed its position as a conduit of information to be leveraged by malevolent actors to shape (or distort) the truth?

Obviously leaks that reveal actual wrongdoing are an unalloyed good. When the leaks that merely provide voyeuristic windows into the routine business of institutions (e.g. the diplomatic cables), the social value of the visibility becomes less clear. When leaks of that sort dominate, and consistently target American and western interests we have to question the motives and the integrity of the conduit.

Truth is power, yes, but is that power being granted to you, or used over you?

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#399

Post by FireBeyond »

wallace_f wrote: post #391
FireBeyond wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come on. If the best a state level actor can do to "bring down" a person, they'd most likely manage something more untoward than "had consensual sex with someone, but questionable consent over the use of a condom". I think that more points to a narcissistic type, than a conspiracy on a state bent on character assassination.=

Why would you be surprised by ineptitude, or willingness to conspire, here, anyways? You should read about the Gulf of Tonkin, Iran Contra, watch the documentary 1971(1), McCarthyism, the FBI's dealings with MLK, or read about Gary Webb. It's not surprising. The FBI apparently sent agents to other countries trying to frame Assange. Iceland told them to fuck off: www.katoikos.eu/interview/icelandic-minister-who-refuse…

You would be doing me a grave injustice to think I am an apologist for the US government, in either colored administration (blue or red), to think that I am blind to their misdeeds, such as the "original" 9/11, the day Pinochet was installed.

And well, as someone who grew up in Australia, that article is full of nothings:

- while 'rape' is used repeatedly, no-one, including either the woman involved, nor the prosecutor has ever claimed that rape or non-consensual sex occurred, only that there was a "disagreement about the use of condoms".

- In the statement Mr Assange says he has been subjected to "six years of unlawful, politicised detention without charge" - well, yes. He does say that. Others say he has subjected _himself_ to detention and exile.

- these are all claims of Assange, who hasn't released any of the text messages, just said "he has [some, but not all] of them

So when you say "Many also claim", the more accurate statement is "Assange claims".

Re: The US Is Preparing to Prosecute Julian Assange

#400

Post by sjg007 »

FireBeyond wrote: post #397
sjg007 wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is partisan?

Contrived and controlled releases to influence a narrative in a particular desired direction. Being given a trove of documents categorized as misdeeds by both sides of government and largely sitting on those by one side, and releasing those that adversely impact the other. Partisan.

Or timely.
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