Julian Assange Extradition. Thoughts?

[GentleJerk]

Australian whistleblower Julian Assange is finally being extradited to the United States, for playing a role in leaking information about some yankee war crimes. Poor gallah-haired Wikileaks dude, he is going to start having some unfortunate and puzzling health problems in the years to come, and probably die in prison from cancer or something. You watch.

Australia's government thinks this is just fine, I can't say I'm at all surprised. What are your thoughts, does he deserve being shipped to the U.S. and locked up for airing out some of Uncle Sam's dirty undies?

 

[Someone123]

It depends on the details of what was leaked. In digginig into this online there are some disturbing things but pieciing togther the details seems like it will take a long time. Does somebody have a more detailed summary of Wikileaks? Airing out dirty undies is a humorous description, in a way, but what info was really leaked would be helpful to know.

 

[GentleJerk]

It depends on the details of what was leaked. In digginig into this online there are some disturbing things but pieciing togther the details seems like it will take a long time. Does somebody have a more detailed summary of Wikileaks? Airing out dirty undies is a humorous description, in a way, but what info was really leaked would be helpful to know.

Uh... okay...

There were hundreds of thousands of leaks. U.S. political corruption both domestic and global, Guantanamo Bay stuff etc...

The most famous ones I think, had to do with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars- yankee military killing of journalists and innocent civilians. And exposing lies from before, during, and continuing after these wars. Coverups, etc...

 

[YourNeighbor]

He leaked a lot of information, not just about war crimes. It will be interesting to see what comes out at trial. Anyone who has decided whether Assange is guilty or innocent without having all the information should be ignored as just another blowhard.

That said, I suspect Assange violated various laws and there will be more than enough evidence to convict.

 

[Someone123]

He leaked a lot of information, not just about war crimes. It will be interesting to see what comes out at trial. Anyone who has decided whether Assange is guilty or innocent without having all the information should be ignored as just another blowhard.

That said, I suspect Assange violated various laws and there will be more than enough evidence to convict.

It does seem very likely that he violated laws, to me the question is- was it ethical or not? I did see a video of civilians and journalists being killed, but we still need to know the details- were these people ones who done done terror attacks or were they innocent? If they killed other people then it would just seem like a part of war, but if they didn't it was a horrible thing that was done. Also, were the journalists in a known war zone- did they knowingly take the risk? So I haven't gotten enough details to form an opinion on the whole situation.

 

[Insomniac]

What are your thoughts, does he deserve being shipped to the U.S. and locked up for airing out some of Uncle Sam's dirty undies?

yes. he deserves it.

I really don't like snitches.

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

I don't have any strong feelings about him one way or the other, but I am curious as to just how pale/translucent a human being can become. I say we keep him locked up forever just to test this out, as fucked up as it is.

 

[GentleJerk]

I don't have any strong feelings about him one way or the other, but I am curious as to just how pale/translucent a human being can become. I say we keep him locked up forever just to test this out, as fucked up as it is.

He certainly seems a bit undercooked.

 

[Someone123]

He leaked a lot of information, not just about war crimes.

Do you know what other information was leaked?

 

[whatevs]

It does seem very likely that he violated laws, to me the question is- was it ethical or not? I did see a video of civilians and journalists being killed, but we still need to know the details- were these people ones who done done terror attacks or were they innocent? If they killed other people then it would just seem like a part of war, but if they didn't it was a horrible thing that was done. Also, were the journalists in a known war zone- did they knowingly take the risk? So I haven't gotten enough details to form an opinion on the whole situation.

It's not like that at all. The leaked war footage was unethical regardless of context. For example, it revealed that the US army laughs and jokes while bombing people or that they bomb an area, wait for the ambulance or friends to show up and bomb again - the double-tapping technique. This is not particularly surprising but if they make illegal publicizing this shit is because they want people to assume it without having to actually watch it.

I couldn't care less about the laws the biggest criminals in the world make to cover their tracks and ransack poor countries. The foxes are guarding the hen house.

 

[YourNeighbor]

Do you know what other information was leaked?

All sorts of diplomatic cables for one, which otherwise compromised the ability of those diplomats to continue working at their assignments and to provide frank impressions of local political conditions.

I am not an expert on Wikileaks, but if you spend some Googling you should get a good idea of what information was stolen and released.

 

[Oblivion Access]

This is awful, man's a bloody legend of a similiar tier as Snowden or Manning risking their life and freedom for a just cause. If the US gvt goes out of their way to make your life hell, you're probably doing the right thing. This probably means death or worse for him since he's already been suicidal.

 

[Darkover]

all the man did was tell the truth and for that you go to jail

 

[Chinaski]

yes. he deserves it.

I really don't like snitches.

There is a difference between a snitch and a whistleblower. On a personal level l have little enthusiasm for Assange the individual, the wider picture here is how we treat those with enough courage to expose the misdeeds enacted in our name by the powerful and to what lengths our elected governments will go to punish those who reveal their dirty secrets which are absolutely in the public interest.

 

[YourNeighbor]

If the US gvt goes out of their way to make your life hell, you're probably doing the right thing. This probably means death or worse for him since he's already been suicidal.

Yeah. I mean, look at all the poor angels on the FBI's Most Wanted List.

There is a difference between a snitch and a whistleblower. On a personal level l have little enthusiasm for Assange the individual, the wider picture here is how we treat those with enough courage to expose the misdeeds enacted in our name by the powerful and to what lengths our elected governments will go to punish those who reveal their dirty secrets which are absolutely in the public interest.

I guess trial should sort those things out. But it's simply untrue that Assange only published documents showing criminal, or even unethical, behavior. Save your prejudgments until the evidence comes out.

 

[Chinaski]

Yeah. I mean, look at all the poor angels on the FBI's Most Wanted List.

I guess trial should sort those things out. But it's simply untrue that Assange only published documents showing criminal, or even unethical, behavior. Save your prejudgments until the evidence comes out.

This is fine if you go along with the pretense that the enthusiasm for bringing him to justice is not entirely founded upon him revealing US war crimes and is probably about something completely different.

 

[YourNeighbor]

This is fine if you go along with the pretense that the enthusiasm for bringing him to justice is not entirely founded upon him revealing US war crimes and is probably about something completely different.

I suppose one could test this hypothesis by gaining access to and publishing reams of diplomatic cables that are confidential yet have nothing to do with U.S. war crimes. I strongly suspect that any such act would have also drawn a very strong response from the US government, as keeping diplomatic communications confidential is important not only to conceal nefarious acts, despite what the tin-foil hat brigade would have one believe. And such a case almost certainly would have been prosecuted by now as no third country would have interposed itself.

We'll see what comes out in trial.

 

[GentleJerk]

the wider picture here is how we treat those with enough courage to expose the misdeeds enacted in our name by the powerful and to what lengths our elected governments will go to punish those who reveal their dirty secrets which are absolutely in the public interest.

This is spot on. Accountability is something woefully lacking among those with power, who ironicaly require it the most. There's a precedent that ought to be set here, and they are not likely to do that for us.