Trump Clears Way For Julian Assange Pardon

Firstly, it's an open forum and members can jump in. I did. Others do too. All the time. That's how discussion forums operate.

On your second point, of course it's important that Russia wasn't responsible for hacking the files. For a whole year it was virtually front page news in the US and used to garner domestic support for a new cold war against Russia just to deflect attention away from the appalling contents of Hilary's emails.

On your third point, Assange hasn't revealed who his source was. It was former UK Ambassador, Craig Murray, who went public about his role as a courier.

 

He isn't detained. He chose to enter the embassy and can choose to leave. If he does, he will be arrested for the crime we all know he committed (the bail jumping) but that would likely involve some brief paperwork and he'd either be free to go or be deported to Australia (and good riddance).

The only threat is if you believe the conspiracy theory about the secret US extradition which would probably be illegal under UK law and a massive political controversy for everyone involved.

That was a highly questionable decision and anyway, a done deal by that point. Letting him go at that point wouldn't have reduced any embarrassment, it would basically be a public confession of the crimes the UN accused them of.

Which was criminal. That is not a precedent I think we should be supporting.

And you're being paranoid about it. The fact remains that Assange would be at no greater threat if he chose to leave the embassy than he is at the moment.

 

Why are you telling me this? My reply was to him. If you didn't understand my response it's probably because I worded it specifically for his benefit ... so that he would understand.

 

There's no point repeating myself. I stand by what I have said on this issue.

 

Well hey, they were only using 'hard-working taxpayers money' to save their faces, or cover up their incompetence, so what the hell - the main thing is that it wasn't cash from their own bank accounts. Politics, the only profession without accountability.

 

Of COURSE he was - the entire western political establishment was after him, and it was the only sanctuary available to him. If he'd so much as poked his head out of a window of the Ecuadorian embassy building he'd have been snatched, and nobody would have ever heard his name again. Like is said - 'You can't beat the system because it has too much power.'

 

It's been ruled as arbitrary detainment. HERE.

The only real threat is people who can't access reality. But if you really think US extradition would be illegal under UK law feel free to go ahead and present evidence supporting that.

I see. Now you seem to be arguing against the point you made earlier:

Cool. We agree.

[quote}And you're being paranoid about it. [/quote]

Paranoid? Care to support that from extracting a paranoid sentence/para from one of my posts?

Thought not.

Sigh.

 

I don’t know how much clearer I can make it but I entirely disagree with that ruling, legally, morally and practically. Even if his arrest before he was bailed were deemed illegal, he isn’t actually being detained by anyone right now.

I think a secret sub-judicial extradition that he and his lawyers know nothing about and thus gives him no right to defend would likely be illegal. For all that I dislike Assange, I don’t believe the US has any legal or moral justification to extradite him.

I’ve no idea what you’re referring to there.

You seem to believe that multiple international governments are conspiring to get Assange to the US by any means and at any cost (though that hypothesis requires them to have been extremely irrational and incompetent about it).

 

Would it be too difficult to understand if I said that you replied to my post quoting me?

Seems so, because you could easily have just used "his" quote to reply to him.... instead of mine.

Or is this too obvious for you?

 

Entirely you're right to disagree. But it's still an UN ruling and carries a great deal more weight internationally than your opinion does.

[/quote]I think a secret sub-judicial extradition that he and his lawyers know nothing about and thus gives him no right to defend would likely be illegal. For all that I dislike Assange, I don’t believe the US has any legal or moral justification to extradite him.[/quote]

Who knows what his lawyers know about it? My guess is that they have a pretty good idea what is planned. After all, Assange and Wikileaks have accumulated more secrets from the US than virtually anyone else.

Yes, correct, that is indeed what I'm saying. The weight of available evidence supports this deduction too.

I regard it as a malicious and vengeful action, which is irrational by definition. On incompetency I also agree. In fact, the Australian journalist, John Pilger, has say exactly the same thing below. This article has many additional facts based on leaked documents, including documents obtained by Edward Snowden about Assange's case. It's worth reading:

http://johnpilger.com/articles/getting-julian-assange-the-untold-story

 

What an absolutely brilliant article by Pilger, and he sums up the vindictive power-abusing scum in a nutshell. Thanks for posting it.

 

Pilger is one of a handful of old school journalists left writing and commenting on abuses of power.

So sad to see that Bob Parry at Consortium is now more or less out of the game...

 

Indeed. He was one of the reasons I bought Private Eye.

 

Do you really want to do this? I don't think that you do.

 

I rarely buy it these days but used to be a regular. Under Ian Hislop's editorship it seemed to increasingly loose it edge, especially once Peter Cook's association with it ended.

 

What you think is your concern, and what I do is mine.

 

Between the two of us I had you figured for the smarter. It is bitter-sweet to find that I overestimated you. You misunderstood me and I misjudged you. So what? The earth made no discernible tremble. Everyone makes mistakes. I am not upset over yours so I don't understand why you are.You are making much too much over nothing.

What I want to know is if you think Assange will walk free without a detour to either Sweden or Guantanamo?

 

Nothing wrong with a jab between mates. I think it's my shout anyway.

Yes. There must be a point where effort & cost of vengeance is no longer affordable. But just where is that point?

No doubt about it. I am actually very surprised that Wikileaks has continued publishing the dirt all through Assange's ordeal. They certainly have my admiration.