301–310 of 1001 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And I can't understand how so many people stay loyal to a guy who just wasted seven years of his life in a self-imposed prison with absolutely no upside except delaying whatever awaits him now. Or how many will, when given a choice between: (a) a wild conspiracies theories about a totally-average Swedish woman being paid by the CIA to make up some not even that damning rape charges, then asks him for an $20/5min STD…
You are delusional. You talk about him like he's your creepy neighbor from the street. This guy messed with dangerous people for the sake of truth. He is being prosecuted by the most powerful country in the world with by far the most reach outside its own borders. All his trouble began after he leaked US butchery in Iraq. You think his self-imposed exile is an egotistical act instead of what it really is: Step outsid…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The governments of half of Europe fold like a cheap suit to the interests of the US intelligence services The governments of most of Western Europe have geopolitical interests strongly allied to the US. > Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian So, all members of SIGINT Seniors Europe except Portugal.
> The governments of most of Western Europe have geopolitical interests strongly allied to the US The governments of most of Western Europe have a long history of selling out their national interests (especially the weak bureaucrats and career politicians put in place past the 80s, not someone like De Gaulle). In exchange they get US support for their campaigns, handouts, and some trinkets for their peoples. In lesse…
As a parent I will always remember that WikiLeaks (Assange) helped to stop the torture of children in Iraq. The war cables revealed that the US government knew about the routine torture of prisoners and opponents including women and children by the Iraqi authorities, a de facto puppet regime of the US. The US government knew about this from the alarmed reports of its own personnel and decided to turn a blind eye beca…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are delusional. You talk about him like he's your creepy neighbor from the street. This guy messed with dangerous people for the sake of truth. He is being prosecuted by the most powerful country in the world with by far the most reach outside its own borders. All his trouble began after he leaked US butchery in Iraq. You think his self-imposed exile is an egotistical act instead of what it really is: Step outsid…
All his trouble began after he leaked US butchery in Iraq Yes, except for the troubles he brought on his own head, which don't relate to Iraq but do relate to his extremely asocial narcissistic behaviours. His original hacking was done because he believed NASA was hiding war work (he hacked the Australian academic network seeking a path into NASA via DECnet) and predates the war in Iraq by a decade or more.
edit: Any yes, Iraq was a crime.
It will be interesting to see if the US tries to extradite him. It's actually not 100% clear that he's broken any US laws in any ways that they aren't also routinely broken by newspapers. There's a few avenues: 1) Publishing classified information. Easy to show that he did this but a very difficult path to go down when American newspapers do this all the time. 2) Conspiracy to commit espionage. Probably the most like…
Why would a government so keen on accusing people of espionage and no doubt wanting to set a precedent for various things being classified as espionage (such as leaks), settle so easily?
Well, because the charges have always been bogus and they know it. Daniel Ellsberg of the "Pentagon Papers" fame has made it extremely difficult if not downright impossible for the government to win in such cases.
If the US government will succeed in sentencing Assange, it won't be due to a espionage charge, but something else entirely, or at best, yet another plea bargain.
It will be interesting to see if the US tries to extradite him. It's actually not 100% clear that he's broken any US laws in any ways that they aren't also routinely broken by newspapers. There's a few avenues: 1) Publishing classified information. Easy to show that he did this but a very difficult path to go down when American newspapers do this all the time. 2) Conspiracy to commit espionage. Probably the most like…
As a parent I will always remember that WikiLeaks (Assange) helped to stop the torture of children in Iraq. The war cables revealed that the US government knew about the routine torture of prisoners and opponents including women and children by the Iraqi authorities, a de facto puppet regime of the US. The US government knew about this from the alarmed reports of its own personnel and decided to turn a blind eye beca…
I think Obama and Bush really badly mishandled both Snowden and Assange. Heavy handed responses to both of them drove them into the arms of Russia. I don’t think either of them were Russian assets when they started.
> Scotland Yard has confirmed that Assange was arrested on behalf of the US after receiving a request for his extradition.
> In a statement it said:
> Julian Assange, 47, (03.07.71) has today, Thursday 11 April, been further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53hrs after his arrival at a central London police station. This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act. He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court as soon as possible.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2019/apr/11/wikileaks...
The comments here disgust me. People here used to have some principles, now there's so many people just repeating establishment talking points.
And I can't understand how so many people stay loyal to a guy who just wasted seven years of his life in a self-imposed prison with absolutely no upside except delaying whatever awaits him now. Or how many will, when given a choice between: (a) a wild conspiracies theories about a totally-average Swedish woman being paid by the CIA to make up some not even that damning rape charges, then asks him for an $20/5min STD…
Your comment is the only one I've read today that uses the word 'paid'; it doesn't look like anyone believes that.
The argument is that the victim(s) of this 'sexual assault' charges doesn't seem to think they are that big of a deal; and the charges do not, in and of themselves, warrant the complicated mess of extraditions that the Swedish prosecutor has triggered.
We should assume the Swedes are making a big deal for internal political reasons or that the US is working behind the scenes; because the alternative is a level of bloody-minded madness being conducted on behalf of the Swedes. Nobody in their right mind would be pursuing a case so frivolous across borders with attempts at arresting Assange.
If I recall correctly one of the charges was almost consensual sex bar a condom; if that is an arrest-worthy charge there are not enough prisons on the planet. I don't know the statistics, but they are not going to be pretty for that sort of thing. The reasonable punishment is - at most - going to be some combination of fines, STD tests and maybe a travel ban from Sweden on character grounds. What has actually happened is absurd and unjustifiable.