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Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

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Re: Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

#201
post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

glow harder

I wish we had moderation policies that would just remove mantras like the above, which contribute precisely zero to the conversation. We all know what they are: "do you like [licking or some variant thereof] that boot [, bootlicker]?", "cry more, libtard", etc. They only serve as a thought-terminating cliché, to assert the speaker's own tribal allegiance and to place their interlocutor on the 'wrong side'. I really d…

You're making a tone argument but calling it a thought-terminating cliche. Anyone who's capable of forming an opinion on the CIA's policies has already settled on one. On the other hand, the parent downplays the CIA's actions, starting off with "Whatever one might think of US diplomacy", which oozes of propaganda and should be called out.

Talking about places like "the Other Site" certainly sounds like tribalism though-- I hope that observation helps you on your journey!

Re: Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

#202

With this, the idea that Epstein was suicided is not so far fetched.

Lol. Literally nobody thinks he actually committed suicide. It’s just that nobody knows for certain who did it. You can rule out certain nations but was it Clinton, Gates Dershowitz? We’ll never know.

Oh come on. The guy was going from living in his own personal hedonism for most of his life to a slow death behind bars, and he was already no spring chicken at that point. When faced with a hand like that, I'm surprised more people aren't killing themselves in jail to be honest.

Re: Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

#204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think even the pro-democracy forces in China see the US's support of "democrats" as a farce? Why do you think the images in HK of protestors with the US flag were seen as nothing short of treason, even among the liberals of China? The hypocrisy is so obvious, and the naked self-interest too glaring. The US's foreign policy has set back the cause of democracy and liberalization in China by decades with its…

There are numerous countries in the world that have becomes democracies inspite of the blundering and corruption of the powers that be in the west. Dont use the US and its dysfunction as an excuse please.

I've never heard of those, but I've heard of the countries whose dictators we propped up and helped (often by literally sending lists of names) to exterminate their secular opposition. Then when they have a revolution because the degree of crushing desperation of the populace exceeded the strength of internal policing, the only leaders left are religious, thereby turning the country into a theocracy.

Re: Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most people saw how the sausage was made and decided they still liked sausage. I'm not sure that's really true. All of the stuff Snowden and Assange leaked was very much down-played by the popular media - it felt like it was very under-reported and even then with a fair bit of bias. If you ask some people about how they feel now, they'll say that it wouldn't affect them "because they haven't done anything wrong", o…

> Most people saw how the sausage was made and decided they still liked sausage. > I'm not sure that's really true. All of the stuff Snowden and Assange leaked was very much down-played by the popular media - it felt like it was very under-reported and even then with a fair bit of bias. It was not at all played down, especially not Snowden, it was rolling 24 hour news for weeks, they still try and drum up some drama…

The story that was rolling on the 24 hour news for weeks wasn't about the contents of the leaks. It was all about Snowden.

If you wanted to know what the leaks said, you basically had to go to the source materials. If you wanted to hear some talking head give his opinion about whether or not Snowden did "treason," who more often than not said it was, you didn't have to work very hard.

Re: Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just so everyone is clear, you think Trump would have been the better choice than Biden?

Your bogeyman largely did nothing for four years. Actually sorry, he was the first politician anywhere in this country to guarantee women basic human rights in prison (he federally guaranteed that women in prison have access to sanitary products not through commissary, which is a priviledge that can be taken away). Biden has been a trainwreck for 50 years. Barack Obama himself said "never underestimate Joe's ability…

Your bogeyman largely did nothing for four years. Actually sorry, he was the first politician anywhere in this country to guarantee women basic human rights...

The theocrats he nominated for the Supreme Court will be there for decades, ensuring that no women without the resources of, say, a Trump family member, will be able to maintain control of their own bodies.

Re: Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

#207
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Erm, last I checked the U.K. justice system wasn’t the “USA”. The U.K. just denied the US extradition request, so the US isn’t even close to “capturing” Assange.

Servant states like the UK do not have autonomy in such matters.

[deleted]

Re: Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

#208

One major issue with Assange is prosecuting him. Honesty most of the 17 charges are quite week and it remains to be seen how they even apply to a foreign national. Assange received classified material and published it. This has been done countless times by journalist and it’s a pretty far stretch to somehow apply criminal charges just because he published it. Honestly from the CIA perspective it would probably have b…

> Assange received classified material and published it. This gets repeated a lot but is not what Assange is charged with. He didn't just "receive" classified information. He's alleged to have not only communicated with Manning to direct her to grab specific information and tried to help her break into systems. He'd have a much better case if he had just been a passive publisher of information. You can't be involved…

>He didn't just "receive" classified information. He's alleged to have not only communicated with Manning to direct her to grab specific information and tried to help her break into systems.

One of the seventeen charges is about this. The others are all solely to do with publishing classified information.

If all of the other charges were dropped, maybe you'd have a point but it's clear that the entire thing is primarily about his work as a journalist publishing documents.

Re: Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I 100% agree with everything you're saying. However, let's not forget that 50/80 years were dominated by a two-headed fight for world hegemony under the threat of nuclear war and potential apocalypse. In this fight, while the US was far more evil than anyone cared to admit at the time, and the USSR far less than the US propaganda would have you believe, RELATIVELY speaking one side did offer more freedom, liberty, an…

> However, let's not forget that 50/80 years were dominated by a two-headed fight for world hegemony under the threat of nuclear war and potential apocalypse. Nuclear war? And in that 50/80 years, only one side has ever nuked a city full of civilians. Twice. > This remains true today with China. CPC apologists are all too happy to point out (factually correct) gaps in US integrity and freedom. "CPC apologists". Did w…

both china and russia have ridiculous claims for every day of the week just as well.

at some level all political claims are ridiculous but all countries mentioned in your post are pathological liars, they just lie about different things in different ways.

Re: Former U.S. officials describe details of the CIA’s proposals to abduct Assange

#210
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not just “Establishment Democrats”. He literally acted as a stooge for the Russian government in publishing DNC emails but suppressing damaging information on Republicans.

This is false. A single republican’s personal laptop got hacked and a years-out-of-date outlook db was stolen. The DNC had their email server itself hacked, which is an entirely different level of compromise. Of course, they crafted a narrative that “republicans were hacked too!” which of course is true but highly misleading (typical of such propaganda campaigns). This was highly effective, as it’s still popping up i…

There's also no evidence the hacked laptop's data was offered to Wikileaks.
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