Assange: What Wikileaks Teaches Us About How the U.S. Operates

BY JULIAN ASSANGE 8/28/15 AT 2:45 AM

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange speaks to the media inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London June 14, 2013.POOL PHOTO BY ANTHONY DEVLIN/REUTERS

ikileaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange explains how the leaked U.S. documents have lifted the veil on the imperialist nature of American foreign policy.

One day, a monk and two novices found a heavy stone in their path. “We will throw it away,” said the novices. But before they could do so, the monk took his ax and cleaved the stone in half. After seeking his approval, the novices then threw the halves away.

“Why did you cleave the stone only to have us throw it away?” they asked. The monk pointed to the distance the half stones had traveled. Growing excited, one of the novices took the monk’s ax and rushed to where one half of the stone had landed. Cleaving it, he threw the quarter, whereupon the other novice grabbed the ax from him and rushed after it. He too cleaved the stone fragment and threw it afield.

Kafka-like Persecution of Julian Assange -- By John Pilger

Kafka-like Persecution of Julian Assange

July 31, 2015

In an era when powerful institutions demonize decent people – and the mainstream media joins in, piling on the abuse – legal proceedings have become another Kafka-esque weapon of coercion. Few cases are more troubling than the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, as John Pilger describes.

By John Pilger

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at a media conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo credit: New Media Days / Peter Erichsen)

The siege of Knightsbridge is both an emblem of gross injustice and a grueling farce. For three years, a police cordon around the Ecuadorean embassy in London has served no purpose other than to flaunt the power of the state. It has cost £12 million (about $18.7 million). The quarry is an Australian charged with no crime, a refugee whose only security is the room given him by a brave South American country. His “crime” is to have initiated a wave of truth-telling in an era of lies, cynicism and war.

The persecution of Julian Assange is about to flare again as it enters a dangerous stage. From Aug. 20, three quarters of the Swedish prosecutor’s case against Assange regarding sexual misconduct in 2010 will disappear as the statute of limitations expires. At the same time Washington’s obsession with Assange and WikiLeaks has intensified. Indeed, it is vindictive American power that offers the greatest threat – as Chelsea Manning and those still held in Guantanamo can attest.

Justice?! We don’t need no stinking justice! by Paul Craig Roberts

July 31, 2015 

Justice?!

We don’t need no stinking justice!


As a presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama, a professor of constitutional law, lauded whistleblowers as “part of a healthy democracy [and they] must be protected from reprisal”. 

In 2012, the campaign to re-elect President Barack Obama boasted on its website that he had prosecuted more whistleblowers in his first term than all other US presidents combined. 

Before Manning had even received a trial, Obama had pronounced the whisletblower guilty. Manning was subsequently sentenced to 35 years in prison, having been tortured during his long pre-trial detention.

— John Pilger

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/31/julian-assange-the-untold-story-of-an-epic-struggle-for-justice/ 

John Pilger shows that justice has simply departed the West. It cannot be found anywhere within the confines of Western “civilization.”

One reason that Washington is currently trying to overthrow the Ecuadoran government is to have the puppet Washington installs revoke Julian Assange’s political asylum. Time is running out on the corrupt Swedish prosecutor, Marianne Ny, who works for Washington, not for justice. So Washington has decided to overthrow a government in its quest for revenge against one journalist.

Is America “a light unto the world, a shinning city upon a hill,” or is America a cesspool of injustice, injustice that has spread and now infects the entire Western world?

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West and How America Was Lost.

Julian Assange: the Untold Story of an Epic Struggle for Justice

Julian Assange: the Untold Story of an Epic Struggle for Justice

by JOHN PILGER

This is an updated version of John Pilger’s 2014 investigation which tells the unreported story of an unrelenting campaign, in Sweden and the US, to deny Julian Assange justice and silence WikiLeaks.

The siege of Knightsbridge is both an emblem of gross injustice and a grueling farce.  For three years, a police cordon around the Ecuadorean embassy in London has served no purpose other than to flaunt the power of the state. It has cost £12 million. The quarry is an Australian charged with no crime, a refugee whose only security is the room given him by a brave South American country. His “crime” is to have initiated a wave of truth-telling in an era of lies, cynicism and war.

The persecution of Julian Assange is about to flare again as it enters a dangerous stage. From August 20, three quarters of the Swedish prosecutor’s case against Assange regarding sexual misconduct in 2010 will disappear as the statute of limitations expires. At the same time Washington’s obsession with Assange and WikiLeaks has intensified. Indeed, it is vindictive American power that offers the greatest threat – as Chelsea Manning and those still held in Guantanamo can attest.

The Americans are pursuing Assange because WikiLeaks exposed their epic crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq: the wholesale killing of tens of thousands of civilians, which they covered up, and their contempt for sovereignty and international law, as demonstrated vividly in their leaked diplomatic cables. WikiLeaks continues to expose criminal activity by the US, having just published top secret US intercepts – US spies’ reports detailing private phone calls of the presidents of France and Germany, and other senior officials, relating to internal European political and economic affairs.

FEATURED -- Democracy Now- Julian Assange -- May 27, 2015

DEMOCRACY NOW

FEATURED

Democracy Now- Julian Assange

By Staff | May 27, 2015

0 Comments

from Democracy Now:

Julian Assange: Despite Congressional Standoff, NSA Has Secret Authority to Continue Spying Unabated

The Obama administration’s authority to collect Americans’ phone records in bulk will likely expire next week after senators from both parties rejected attempts to extend it. First, the Republican-led Senate rejected a House-passed measure to curb bulk spying by keeping the records with phone companies instead of the government. The Senate then rejected a bid by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to extend the current bulk spying program for two months. The Senate adjourned and will reconvene May 31, the day before the program expires. In an exclusive interview from his place of refuge inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange weighs in on the NSA standoff.

Julian Assange on the TPP: Secretive Deal Isn’t About Trade, But Corporate Control

As negotiations continue, WikiLeaks has published leaked chapters of the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership — a global trade deal between the United States and 11 other countries. The TPP would cover 40 percent of the global economy, but details have been concealed from the public. A recently disclosed “Investment Chapter” highlights the intent of U.S.-led negotiators to create a tribunal where corporations can sue governments if their laws interfere with a company’s claimed future profits. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange warns the plan could chill the adoption of health and environmental regulations.

Julian Assange: British Nuclear Sub Whistleblower William McNeilly Revealed Major Security Lapses

A Royal Navy whistleblower who exposed security problems at Britain’s Trident nuclear base in Scotland was arrested earlier this month after about a week on the run. In an 18-page report published by WikiLeaks, Able Seaman William McNeilly wrote: “We are so close to a nuclear disaster it is shocking, and yet everybody is accepting the risk to the public.” McNeilly describes a fire on board a submarine, the use of a missile compartment as a gym, an alleged cover-up of a submarine collision and lax security which makes it “harder to get into most nightclubs” than into restricted areas of the nuclear base. In our exclusive interview from the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, we speak to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about McNeilly and his leaks.

WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange on Europe’s Secret Plan for Military Force on Refugee Boats from Libya

WikiLeaks has just revealed secret details of a European Union plan to use military force to curb the influx of migrants from Libya. “The documents lay out a military operation against cross-Mediterranean refugee transport networks and infrastructure,” WikiLeaks says. “It details plans to conduct military operations to destroy boats used for transporting migrants and refugees in Libyan territory, thereby preventing them from reaching Europe.” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange discusses the EU’s plan from his place of refuge inside Ecuador’s London embassy.

As Julian Assange Faces Swedish Legal Setback, New Details Come to Light on U.S. Case Against Him

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has spent nearly three years inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he has political asylum. Assange faces investigations in both Sweden and the United States. A secret grand jury in Virginia is investigating WikiLeaks for its role in publishing a trove of leaked documents about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as State Department cables. In Sweden, he’s wanted for questioning on allegations of sexual misconduct, though no charges have been filed. Earlier this month, Sweden’s Supreme Court rejected his appeal to lift his arrest warrant. Swedish prosecutors are reportedly preparing to travel to London to interview Assange, after refusing to do so for years.

Support Chelsea Manning

Chelsea Manning

TOGETHER WITH JULIAN ASSANGE AND EDWARD SNOWDEN THESE THREE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN IN SERVICE TO THE HUMANITY MORE THAN ANYONE.

THEY ARE GIANTS OF COURAGE AND SELFLESSNESS AND THEY DESERVE OUR  FULL RESPECT AND SUPPORT.

@xychelsea

Julian Assange & Edward Snowden - The Moment of Truth -- Video

Julian Assange & Edward Snowden - The Moment of Truth

DN Exclusive - Inside Julian Assange's Embassy Refuge to Talk WikiLeaks, Snowden and Winning Freedom -- Video

Publicado em 10 de jul de 2014

2014 Democracy Now! 

In a Democracy Now! special, we go inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London to interview Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. 

He has been holed up there for more than two years, having received political asylum. He faces investigations in both Sweden and the United States. In the U.S., a secret grand jury is investigating WikiLeaks for its role in publishing a trove of leaked documents about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as classified State Department cables. In Sweden, Assange is wanted for questioning on allegations of sexual misconduct, though no charges have been filed. 

Late last week, there was the first break in the latter case in two years, when a Swedish court announced it would hold a hearing on July 16 about a request by his lawyers for prosecutors to hand over new evidence and withdraw the arrest warrant. In the first of a two-part interview, Assange discusses his new legal bid in Sweden, the ongoing grand jury probe in the United States, and WikiLeaks' efforts to assist National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

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Chomsky on Snowden & Why NSA Surveillance Doesn’t Stop Terror While the U.S. Drone War Creates It

 

World-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky discusses why National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden should be welcomed back to the United States as a hero and why those who authorized the government surveillance he exposed should be on trial, not him. Chomsky also argues that while mass surveillance has been ineffective in stopping terrorism, programs like the global U.S. drone war have helped spread it to areas all around the world.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re spending the hour with MITprofessor, author and activist Noam Chomsky. We sat down with him Monday. I asked him about the significance of the leaks by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden and whether he should be allowed to return to the United States without facing any charges.