The Obama Administration is hard at work attempting to “acquire” Julian Assange from either the British or Swedish government. They’re not really sure what they can charge him with, but they’ll think of something, probably.
But concerns about the prospect that Assange is about to “disappear” into some US black hole for his role in the publication of information severely embarrassing to the US government is finally starting to rise not just among human rights groups, but in official circles as well.
“It’s just astonishing what is happening,” noted the UN’s top Human Rights official Navi Pillay, adding that the US moves against them are “potentially violating WikiLeaks’s right to freedom of expression.”
Brazilian President Lula expressed “solidarity” with Assange, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin condemned his detention as “undemocratic.” US officials have condemned Assange as a terrorist on the basis of his publications, and top US presidential hopefuls have expressed support for assassinating him.
Our goverenment better just get over it .Our persecution of Wiki leaks is making our goverenment look worse evreyday . What happend to freedom of information . How can we possiblely control our democracy when its against the law to even learn what the goverenment is doing . We have a insane goverenment that wants to see and know evreything we do . Now they call it treason if we learn some of the things they have done . Its most obvious the goverenment does not respect us or treat us as thier employers . they want different and better healthcare , retirement benifets , evreything they do is getting more disapointed almost daily .
What is America? Some banana republic? Does it think it controls the world? Yes to both questions!
America is exceptional! Exceptionally arrogant. If it allowed its cables to be stolen then it can't blame anyone but itself. The world must resist any attempt by the U.S. to grab Assange. We all know what they do to prisoners in America!
http://www.dangerouscreation.com
I was a prisoner in the US. When their trrrorism shit didn't stand they broke my nose, two ribs and 7' laceration on the back of my head. Of course five years at the Federal Pen plus ruining my reputation with the help of the Media which is doing good job supporting the Mafia. Now I live in Europe and will never return to the collapsing empire. I don't want to punch one of these low wager TSA goons.
seeing as how you're an australian, mr grayling, would you like to comment on oz's status as lapdog for the israeli american empire?
is gillard capable of changing her mind about assange, or is oz doomed to go down with the israeli american ship?
is gillard capable of withdrawing from the war on terror, or is oz doomed to go down with the ship?
do you spose oz's withdrawal from the evil empire might send a message to the empire?
would your efforts be more fruitful if you railed against your own government's status as lapdog to the empire… instead of railing against the empire itself?
as far as i can tell, about 80% of australia's trade is with countries in the eastern hemisphere.
why then has australia hooked its wagon to an empire from the western hemisphere… an empire that you apparently detest, an empire that's dying?
is it some kind of racial thing?
wouldnt you be better off trying to change australia's alignment, seeing as how you're one person in 21 million australians, rather than venting your spleen at the empire –which has a population of at least 315 million, just counting israel and america– where your message is buried in the signal-to-noise ratio?
think of the damage you could do to the empire if you persuaded australia to unhitch from that empire…
…the upshot of this exercise being: maybe it would be better if you and your claque stayed home and minded your own business… your business to include, of course, giving julian assange refuge from the empire.
Wadosy, the Evil Empire of America is, in case you haven't noticed, trying to control the world. It has some lapdog allies like Australia and the U.K. which means that I am as entitled to comment on the 'Empire' as any other world citizens or you.
Instead of giving us the benefit of your mindless indoctrination, why aren't you trying to change America and its warmongering ways.
This is an anti-war site or didn't you know?
http://www.dangerouscreation.com
to tell you the truth, i'm getting tired of your rants.
seems to me you'd realize that the empire's probably not gonna come down in one fell swoop… seems like you'd realize that you'd be better off ranting about your own country, which is vulnerable to anti-empire ideas that are based on common sense and an awareness of australia's natural trading partners.
if you could pry australia out of the empire, that would be a serious blow to the empire, and hasten its eventual collapse… chip chip chipping away at the empire's perimeter.
not to mention the fact that, if you really are in australia, then you know the local "lay of the land", and so you would be more effective in australia.
as to your rants, it's not as if we were unaware of america's shortcomings; we live here.
so at least try to post some original thinking, or some facts explaining why oz is being so stupid… we need all the help we can get, and you're not helping by endlessly regurgitating anti-america diatribes.
for instance, you could explain why, despite the fact that such a large part of australia's trade is with the neocons' "enemies", you still toe the neocon party line.
has the empire bribed australia to stay in the empire? …if so, how much?
how much of oz's devotion to the israeli american empire is caused by plain old racism?
is racism a factor, seeing as how america, israel and australia were all founded by white people displacing natives who just happened to be of a supposedly inferior race?
david grayling is apparently some kind of professional bullshit artist
…which is not to say professional bullshit artists are not entitled to an opinion… but you gotta wonder if he's working when he posts here, and you gotta wonder, if he's working, who he's working for.
i see by your outfit that you are a… etc etc etc
Wadosy, you've got the wrong David Grayling which one would expect from someone as mindless as you are.
When you eventually get to High School, you'll probably better understand how things work.
http://www.dangerouscreation.com
what we need here is roses to deaden the clods as they fall
we got to assume that david grayling is an idiot savant when it comes to use of the english language.
too bad he's a moral cretin.
if you're worried, you got to sell your talent to the highest bidder.
once you've sold your talent, you're not quite as talented as you used to be, are you?
so the whores will use their power to do whatever they want to do, but in the long run. their heirs will be
despised
America is sick like a dog
Yea I hoped this persecution would change public opinion in Europe and around the world. This is great news! Hopefully the world will continue to wake up and see the US government for the threat that it is.
No country should extradite Assange or any other political prisoner to the United States on the grounds that the US is a persistent violator of international treaties that prohibit torture.
davidgrayling,
That’s right. It is America’s fault. Neither Julian Assange nor Bradley Manning could have obtained all those cables without the assistance of someone(s) in the State Dept. and/or “other agencies”.
The true source of the leaks still hasn’t been reported. But to be sure, Julian is not responsible for the leaks. Someone in the American govt. is.
Julian is nothing but a lightning rod for Wikileaks. Somebody had to step up to the plate and shoulder the responsibility. And for that he is a true hero, a freedom fighter and martyr. By assuming responsibility for Wikileaks releases he sacrificed his own personal security for the rest of his lifetime.
How many people in America would sacrifice themselves in the name of Truth? I believe the answer is ‘not many’. The majority here sacrifice themselves for Lies.
Heathcliff_ Maw sums it up succinctly, and this is the argument which the judge trying the case needs to hear before next Tuesday. Let us all do our bit so that it becomes a commonplace enough point of view. This case needs to be thrown out of court, with Assange free and at liberty to travel to wherever he decides that he will be safest.
Since objective journalism is dead in America and the loud voices of the corporations and the military prevail., the presence of wikileaks may yet save the world from the disaster which President Eisenhower warned us about.- the military industrial complex.It is strange and marvelous how Assange appeared from out of nowhere to expose this international sickness.The Hegelian dialectic lives!
Hope Obama can handle WL Change?
We NEED transparency for our global society that we created an cannot control.To many crises.
We'd never gone to Iraq if we read the cables first? Can gov. cut own flesh and downsize coldwar min. of foreign aff./CIA that cost as much as public health care. Wars ? Environment ? The public and is needed to get involved to let our global society survive.
How can a few wise leaders alone solve complex global issues pending ?
If democracy fails, the only solution is More democracy. Know It's a hard path, but harder for our totalitarian enemies. E-vote(power), not E-commerce(money) that changes our world, stupid!
Obama is the opposition to change. Obama was put into his spot to prevent change. That's the role of the Democrats. Same under B.Clinton as today. No effort or minimum effort to change Republican policies … ie, the wars don't end, the spying continues, the money goes to wall street and defense contractors, and the Bush tax cuts stay in place. Then, the Democrats try to do the things the Republicans can't get away with, like killing off Social Security.
That's what Obama was elected to do. Don't be fooled by the big signs that he used to stand under that read CHANGE. If Obama really stood for change, he wouldn't have needed the big sign to tell you that. After all, everyone knew Paul Wellstone stood for change without him having to get his corporate backers to buy him a big sign.
Obama is not for change. Obama is not a wise leader.
And these days, we are the totalitarian enemy who opposes democracy.
And that was what Obama was put there to do.
"Concerns about the prospect that Assange is about to “disappear” into some US black hole". That's why the quicker he gets to Sweden the better. He is reasonably safe in a British prison, but he'd be even safer in Sweden, even in remand prison (Swedish prisons are reasonably comfortable places, I'm told). Of course, it would be total madness for the US to harm him in any way, just as it is madness for the US to try to "acquire" him, and if harm did come to him, US denials of involvement would just not be believed. The Swedish complainant's lawer has even had to deny that the whole thing is an American set-up and I doubt if anyone in Europe believes him. So the more the American elite run around in panic, the more they damage the US. Assange must be laughing his head off!
Actually this is quite the interesting and peculiar story, with subplots galore and unexpected twists. For example, the rape charge creates a great deal of narrative tension, because it's not possible to know whether it's a CIA honey pot or a pissy Swedish blonde plot. Also, Ardin, whether CIA operative or über-pissy feminist hottie, has single-handedly produced a public relations bonanza for Wikileaks. I mean think about it. How much more delicious is this whole Wikileaks/Assange business with the hot sex overlay? The CIA wants to waterboard him, Fox psychos want to off him, hot smart babes want to bag him, and those he's bagged and fled want to lynch him. And the rest of us just want, well,… more.
I am totally lovin' it.
Oh, and have you noticed, the release of all those State Department cables has dealt embarrassment to dirt bag politicians the world over — is that a source of great joy or what? At the same time, political sleazoids are put on notice that the world is a different place, and they best adjust. Finally, though I'm no fan of government secrecy, Manning's mass document dump is the perfect wake-up call ***TO GOVT*** regarding both the questionable wisdom of comprehensive government secrecy(a lesson they will almost certainly reject), and the crappy security protocol of their classified-document system (a fault they will promptly attempt to correct). So Assange has actually done them a big favor.
Is the arrest and the US government's predictable overreaction part of Assange's plan? Regardless, watching American officials thrash about like a wounded dog is beautiful to watch. They are revealing their true nature and damaging their reputation far more than some harmless State Dept cables ever could.
Much like the arrest of people like Suu Kyi or Mandela, the longer Assange is detained, the greater publicity he brings to his cause and the more light is shed on the evil US regime. I wish him well. Long live WikiLeaks!
Good for Lula and Putin.
A greater worry I think is that the government zombies will assassinate Assange. After all, in this neoconned world the US president reserves the right to kill anyone, anywhere, for any reason. And in the case of Baruch Obama, all it would take is for one those demonic neo-con imps he's got infesting the White House to whisper something into his ear and Assange will appear somewhere killed and no one charged.
thare must really be some game changing ground shakers out in front,would they just have us "all" give it all back and just trust "it", the thing, the monster that won't obey ,to quote a steppenwolf song
This slow sad charade keeps rolling on. I simply want to know what nimrods called for this mans death and make sure I remember who they were and make certain every time I see them comment that their idiotic statements come back to haunt them.
When someone does take a shot at Assange I wonder if their defense will be that Palin and Huckabee called for his assassination, so it must be okay, right? RIGHT? I wonder then if those two will be hauled in on charges as well, just like Charles Manson was when he talked his followers into committing murder. As much as I like Palin and Huckabee (okay, I admit it) they were dead wrong (no pun intended) to say such things.