169 replies to this topic

[ExpandMyMind]

Quote

Ecuador has granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK.
It cited fears that Mr Assange's human rights might be violated.
Foreign minister Ricardo Patino accused the UK of making an "open threat" to enter its embassy to arrest Mr Assange.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19281492

Edited by ExpandMyMind, 16 August 2012 - 04:04 PM.

[pallidin]

Seems like Assange has himself in a peculiar situation here.
Will be interesting to see how this turns out.

[questionmark]

pallidin, on 16 August 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

Seems like Assange has himself in a peculiar situation here.
Will be interesting to see how this turns out.

The same way all these cold war Eastern Block embassy refugees turned out: They got to leave because at some point the damage done to the retaining country's reputation is worse than the loss of face for letting them go.

[Babe Ruth]

I hope that is the final resolution, Questionmark.

At the moment, with their insinuation that they may attack the Embassy of Ecuador, the Brits and Sweden have egg on their face, big time.

But it does make it absolutely clear that Assange and his truth-telling is a threat to the US and its lapdog.

Yes, in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a radical act.  Enough to have one declared a Radical and Enemy of The State.  The humorous part of this case is that the Swedes were so interested in "justice" that they would not even send a police investigator to Britain to question the "suspect."

It is right out of a movie.

[hetrodoxly]

Britain has an obligation to extradite him to Sweden they can't just let him leave the country.

[Sky Scanner]

I hope we do extradite him...which is a break from my normal stance since our agreement with the US regarding extradition annoys me no end....but this Assange fella actively decided to take the US on when he went down his wikileaks route...he should have thought it through a bit better, he thought he could come here and be welcomed with open arms, got that one wrong too....

[and then]

Babe Ruth, on 16 August 2012 - 07:13 PM, said:

I hope that is the final resolution, Questionmark.

At the moment, with their insinuation that they may attack the Embassy of Ecuador, the Brits and Sweden have egg on their face, big time.

But it does make it absolutely clear that Assange and his truth-telling is a threat to the US and its lapdog.

Yes, in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a radical act.  Enough to have one declared a Radical and Enemy of The State.  The humorous part of this case is that the Swedes were so interested in "justice" that they would not even send a police investigator to Britain to question the "suspect."

It is right out of a movie.

I believe that what the British did was to tell them they might revoke the status of their Embassy:  

http://www.legislati...k/ukpga/1987/46
While accomplishing the same thing, it's false to call it an "attack".  If he winds up in Ecuador it's as good as a prison sentence imo.  I don't think they have a very good human rights record and if he begins to use the internet to start his "Philanthropic" work again, Ecuador will probably start to feel some considerable pain in the area of trade.  He traded one box for another.  Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[WhyDontYouBeliEveMe]

that guy is innocent... what the hell? for raping a woman in sweden .. to send out to usa? something is really really wrong.. anyone heard that before?  its like the usa goverment is doing whatever they want to do .. and no 1 is stopping them.. ..
poor wilileaks guy ! the usa is only proven assagne info to be accurate..  
leaked . top secret information. he has to be jailed ? cmon !!!

[and then]

WhyDontYouBeliEveMe, on 16 August 2012 - 09:57 PM, said:

that guy is innocent... what the hell? for raping a woman in sweden .. to send out to usa? something is really really wrong.. anyone heard that before?  its like the usa goverment is doing whatever they want to do .. and no 1 is stopping them.. ..
poor wilileaks guy ! the usa is only proven assagne info to be accurate..  
leaked . top secret information. he has to be jailed ? cmon !!!

I'll probably not explain this as well as some but I will try.  No matter how nice a person you try to be, no matter how honest and forthright, there are just some things in your life that you don't want to share with everyone.  Maybe bad, maybe not, but you just don't share because maybe it could cause you problems.  Countries - all countries - have a need to with hold things as well.  Some countries a LOT more than others.  The argument Wiki is making is that NO government EVER has a right to hold back info from the people, even if releasing it could cause serious problems.  Folks here like Babe Ruth (whom I feel is well intentioned) say that the government is corrupt to it's core and a lot of sunshine is exactly what it needs.  I disagree simply because a large number of those secrets that Assange wants to make $ off of could actually destabilize the governments of other countries and even cause wars to break out.  Imagine having a mind reader at a party where a bunch of "friends" are gathered and this mind reader starts telling everyone there how they REALLY feel about each other... now imagine that everyone is thin skinned and armed.  Secrets are a part of the life of humans and human governments.  Maybe that's a bad thing but a lot that humans do IS bad...and some of what humans do is MUCH WORSE.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

WhyDontYouBeliEveMe, on 16 August 2012 - 09:57 PM, said:

that guy is innocent... what the hell? for raping a woman in sweden .. to send out to usa? something is really really wrong.. anyone heard that before?  its like the usa goverment is doing whatever they want to do .. and no 1 is stopping them.. ..
poor wilileaks guy ! the usa is only proven assagne info to be accurate..  
leaked . top secret information. he has to be jailed ? cmon !!!

He's not, actually, gonig to be extradited to America.
He's going to be extradited to SWEDEN to have his day in court over charges of rape. The Swedes have actually said point blank "we're not going to give him to the Americans",

[pallidin]

That traitor to the world should be shot no matter where he's at.
What a serious piece of scum.

[ExpandMyMind]

If he exposes war crimes and lies told to the public, that can only be a good thing.

[and then]

ExpandMyMind, on 17 August 2012 - 01:03 AM, said:

If he exposes war crimes and lies told to the public, that can only be a good thing.

And I disagree.  It might be a good thing in some instances.  But this guy DUMPS without much if any redaction. We all say we want openness and honesty from our government but the truth is that some things have to be kept secret in this world of nukes and poisons.  It sucks, but that's the way people ARE.  I actually have less a problem with Assange or any other non service member whistle blower than I do with Manning.  Babe Ruth will be here shortly to pummel me but here goes: Assange is an erstwhile humanitarian, honest government muckraker type.  He's actually in it for the $ I think but that's okay, we all need to earn a living.  Manning was in uniform.  And for me that is ALL the difference.  I'm not sure what his motivation was but even if it was PURELY patriotic and humanitarian he was till in the wrong because he was wearing the uniform and stole secrets that he only had access to because he was wearing the uniform.  If he goes unpunished or less than severely punished then our military secrets will be at the whim of any E3 or above with a security clearance.  Why people cannot understand the importance of this is beyond me.  It is a dangerous precedent to set.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

ExpandMyMind, on 17 August 2012 - 01:03 AM, said:

If he exposes war crimes and lies told to the public, that can only be a good thing.

enough of a "good thig" to excuse him from his flagrant disregard for the rule of law in fleeing his accusers and not wanting tostand trial for rape?

[ExpandMyMind]

Wearer of Hats, on 17 August 2012 - 02:15 AM, said:

enough of a "good thig" to excuse him from his flagrant disregard for the rule of law in fleeing his accusers and not wanting tostand trial for rape?

Well, it's not really rape now though is it.

And let's not forget that he isn't actually the one leaking the information - he only makes it public. Much in the same way a newspaper would.