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Julian Assange arrested in London

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty shocking here to see pro-fascist comments like this which reward the Russian Intelligence operation called "Wikileaks" and its constant war against democracy, liberty and free elections in not just the U.S., but also Europe. Sometimes you have to wonder why folks this guy truly hate the U.S. and the West and side openly with mediocre spies involved in intelligence operations against his own home. But this…

Calling a mere website "a weapon of war" is a little overstated I think.

Since Assange will probably be claiming the journalist exemption I’m not sure why he should be treated differently than William Randolph Hearst’s crew or Judith Miller at the NYT if you want something more current.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#593
post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> many illegal, suggestions of illegal, and offensive things in those, and related, email leaks, for supporters and detractors of HRC. Such as? Have there been any prosecutions? Wasn't she vindicated by an investigation?

There weren’t any, but it was incredible fodder for conspiracy theorists (spirit cooking).

Among other things, the leaks kicked off a series of events leading to the revelation that the Clinton campaign had been financially propping up the DNC, in exchange for control of the DNC, including during the primary.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#594
post #525

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty shocking here to see pro-fascist comments like this which reward the Russian Intelligence operation called "Wikileaks" and its constant war against democracy, liberty and free elections in not just the U.S., but also Europe. Sometimes you have to wonder why folks this guy truly hate the U.S. and the West and side openly with mediocre spies involved in intelligence operations against his own home. But this…

Have you considered that Assange's supporters don't think he is pro-fascist or that he hates the US? Why don't you try justifying those points instead of just calling everyone here pro-fascist like it's so obvious?

The truth doesn't require them to believe in it. Their support for Russian Military intellience operations including Wikileaks is support for an authoritaritarian war against Europe and US with the goal of overthrowing our liberal democracies.

I understand that the anarcho-hacker types hate all governments and have been tricked through cheap propaganda into thinking Wikileaks is a non-nation-state actor that is on their side of radical-whatever, but the fact is is that Wikileaks is military intelligence and supporting it is supporting that military, regardless of your personal opinion.

I accept the downvotes proudly because standing up for liberal democracies in the west against these outrageous agit-prop attacks has become extremely unpopular.

One wonders if the Wikileaks lovers live in a country like Russia and experience authoritarianism first hand, or if they simply have been indoctrinated to hate liberal western democracies.

Take for example say a British citizen who falls for ISIS propaganda and goes to Syria to join a terrorist organization. They swear that the U.S. and U.K. are evil and that their radicalization is the result of their honest opinion and search for truth. Do we label them as terrorists because of their views and actions, or do we say "well you THOUGHT you were doing good, so no harm no foul!"

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#595
post #519

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, really interesting to see how there was some sort of slow-motion character assassination over the years. Put him under pressure, wait for him to lash out, portray him as a raging lunatic and generally bad person. He went from an unsympathetic yet credible figure to one that's hard to side with for virtually anyone. It's weird that for the most part, all his "crazy talk" has pretty much held up so far. I hope he…

> He went from an unsympathetic yet credible figure to one that's hard to side with for virtually anyone. The MO is shoot the messenger. As old as the hills. We aren't discussing what Wikileaks leaked anymore. We are discussing Julian Assange's cats. See how they shifted our attention? That's the power of a propaganda - eventually, it will work. They just have to keep at it, and they did. Nobody even disputed what wa…

> I can only imagine the kind of pressure Ecuador was under for the last few years. Finally, they conceded. Can't blame them - you can't go against military superiority of that kind.

Maybe I'm too cynical, but my guess is Ecuador only used him as a pawn to get something. Somebody else linked in this thread that they recently received like a 4 billion IMF loan. My guess is they immediately began angling to improve their own country in some fashion as soon as he stepped foot through their embassy doors.

Maybe I'm too cynical, but that's my guess. I feel like through this whole thing, they walked through shit and always intended to come out smelling like roses.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#596

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're basing this on what? St. Mueller has finished his investigation, and precisely no one will be going to prison for "Russian election meddling". If they didn't do this horrible thing (that is entirely protected by 1A), then how could anyone have helped them do this horrible thing?

First Amendment protections are not extended to non-US citizens.

"Congress shall make no law..."

Simple people imagine that "freedom of speech" is primarily good for the speaker. In fact, it's good for everyone in USA to know true facts about their politicians, no matter who publicizes those facts.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#597
post #459

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if Russia leaked the emails (not certain as the media would have you believe at all, not saying it’s conspiracy but It’s not conclusive), the information regarding massive corruption in the DNC was true, and that information being public is 1) good and 2) important.

Wikileaks coordinated the release of the DNC emails with the Trump campaign. Is that also "good" and "important?"

If it revealed the truth, then yes.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#598
post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, either side of this argument feels like attempts at manipulation to me. The end result is that it is becoming harder to trust any statement, not really what we want either.

>The end result is that it is becoming harder to trust any statement, not really what we want either. This is a tactic in itself. I can't find the details behind it, but the act of so much misinformation at once that helps drowned out more factual news while simultaneously making it so that you don't believe what you're reading. It's not a new tactic, but it's well used.

Ironically, it's a famous Russian propaganda tactic that is in heavy use in Russian propaganda and the subsequently nearly identical Wikileaks propaganda that follows. This tactic played heavily with Russia's troll farms on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, etc. It also played heavily in Wikileaks propaganda on twitter and other platforms.

For me to be accused of the exact evil that Wikileaks uses to manipulate its readers is very ironic, but this kind of dishonest "projection" of accusing the other side of committing your own crimes is precisely the standard operating procedure for far-right propaganda.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#599
post #216

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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…

The woman doesn't have "proven ties with the CIA". According to a now-deleted article by some third-rate conspiracy theorist, she at some point during a foreign exchange in Cuba worked with (not for) a feminist organisation there, the leader of which was alleged to have ties to the CIA.

I'll reply here because I can't edit the comment anymore. You are correct and I retract the "proven" part, it was poor investigating on my part. On the other hand, he isn't proven guilty either and your "he is creepy" comment is still a dumb argument to make by an adult.

Re: Julian Assange arrested in London

#600

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wikileaks has leaked 10 some-odd documents on Australia, so I don't expect them to go to bat for him. The problem with being a uniform thorn in everybody's side is you run out of friends.

Assange is anything but a uniform thorn. He has continually supported and looked out for Russian interests. If he wasn't biased there would be a lot more public support for him.

Wikileaks declining to publish this at a critical moment in time does seem telling. https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/17/wikileaks-turned-down-l...
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