NOVANEWS
modernityblog 07/12/2010
Tags: Barbra Streisand effect, Censorship, Charges, Diplomatic Papers, Internet Censorship,Julian Assange, Obama administration, Wikileaks | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p4XPG-2yh
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A reader of mine has suggested that I am trivialising the rape charges against Julian Assange. So I wanted to deal with this issue head-on.
I am not trivialising those charges, rather I am aware of how governments and secret services act, and unless we see these unfolding events in a wider context then I am afraid we will get lost.
Firstly, we need to remember that governments have for many centuries used indirect means to get at their enemies.
Secondly, Assange has seriously annoyed some very powerful people and it is highly likely that they would want some form of revenge.
Thirdly, within living memory governments have done far worse, such as overthrowing elected democracies, causing panic and shortages, manipulating whole countries.
I would heartily recommend reading through Philip Agee’s CIA Diary for a small glimpse into what governments can do to others.
Fourthly, we shouldn’t forget that even the US Congress investigated how security agencies manipulated, controlled and tried to destroyperceived enemies by indirect means.
Fifthly, these allegations against Julian Assange only really came to light after Wikileaks had released some 75,000+ documentsconcerning US activities in and around Iraq last year.
So when considering this issue we need to bear those points in mind.
As commentators have remarked how Julian Assange was, until today, beyond the grasp of those he annoyed, primarily the current US administration:
“Besides, even if current law were sufficient, how would authorities bring Assange, an Australian native in hiding outside the U.S., into this country to stand trial?
Presented with this question, Holder told reporters that no one’s foreign citizenship or residence would prevent them from being targeted. But that brings us back to this question: on what charge could he be indicted?”
That again “… that no one’s foreign citizenship or residence would prevent them from being targeted….”
Which suggest to me on the balance of probability that the US administration had for many months been looking at a way of “acquiring” Julian Assange.
I have no doubt that soon after Assange’s time in Sweden that he will be deported to the United States.
Once more, if governments and security services are perfectly capable of overthrowing elected governments in Latin America and across the world then organising for some form of charges to be the pretext for getting Julian Assange into custody seems like child’s play to them.
