The US Government's Pursuit of WikiLeaks Could Be Its Undoing

JPMorgan's Losses a Canary in a Coal Mine?

FOCUS: Apocalypse Fairly Soon

FOCUS: Five Facts That Put America to Shame

The NDAA's Coup d'Etat Foiled

FOCUS: The Commencement Address That Won't Be Given

Excerpt: "If Assange is successfully extradited to the US, a sobering experience will follow. Prosecuting the founder of WikiLeaks could very easily turn into a nightmare. In formal terms, Julian Assange will be the man standing trial. But the participant with the most to lose will be the US government. Victory, if it arrives in any formal sense, will feel pyrrhic."

Illustration, Julian Assange. (art: Mataparda)

Also See:
WikiLeaks' Twitter Page: http://twitter.com/wikileaks
WikiLeaks' Support Page: http://wikileaks.ch/support.html
Lieberman Attacks New York Times Over WikiLeaks Documents: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/07/wikileaks-joe-lieberman-new-york-times-investigated

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+25 # Activista 2010-12-13 17:36

All 250 thousand cables about our dirty Wars MUST be published now - without the censorship of NYT and other corporate media oligarch. Then all the Liebermans/Clintons/Busharonistas will spend all their time and energy explaining to US citizens their dirty actions and decisions.
Does anybody of the hackers has courage to get the truth out instead spreading computer viruses over the World or selling me the Viagra?

+22 # pikewich 2010-12-13 17:48

Perhaps the purpose of the extradition is to get Jullian into a situation where a "Jack Ruby" incident can occur.

Clearly the US government has no real case. To convict based on the 1917 espionage act would be ridiculous. All of us who have read any of it or seen "Collateral Murder" should do our duty and turn ourselves in for violation of the same law.

Maybe we should do it now!

+2 # othermother 2010-12-15 04:17

Quoting

Perhaps the purpose of the extradition is to get Jullian into a situation where a "Jack Ruby" incident can occur.. . .

The Obama presidency is already in difficulties. A Jack Ruby incident would probably discredit it thoroughly with most of its support base. This doesn't mean it wouldn't happen.

+16 # B. 2010-12-13 20:58

Activista, they can't dump the rest of the cables now, it's Assange's only bargaining chip, the only thing that will save his life. His lawyers need to get him out of jail NOW, and get him underground. Does anyone on this site still believe we are a nation of laws, that he will get a fair trial with our lopsided repug. courts ?? If he's extradited to this country, he will be killed.
RUN JULLIAN RUN !!

+11 # Hors-D-whores 2010-12-13 23:28

This will be a great movie someday. I don't think there is a writer out there that could make this up. Whether the Assange character is the antagonist or the protagonist in this movie, the audience will be on his side and will want him to overcome.
Shine the light on truth, always.

+6 # Slim 2010-12-14 12:03

Perhaps Clooney will make a movie about this after he finishes the film adaptation of 'Enron: The Play'. I agree it is a great idea!

+6 # Ralph Averill 2010-12-14 03:16

Assange was underground, and he wisely turned himself in to British authorities. The British won't let anything happen to him while they have him. It would be embarrassing and Wikileaks id holding the same gun to their heads as the US. Everyone except Assange is in a no-win situation.
Even if Assange is jailed or assassinated, and made into a hero/martyr, Wikileaks and the quarter million documents are still in play, and harder to track down and supress. Killing him won't change that any more than killing Osama bin Laden would end al Qaeda,
The best outcome for the US, as the author concluded, is for exradition to be refused, the US to cooperate with Wikileaks in redacting the remaining documents, take their lumps, and move on.

+5 # B. 2010-12-14 11:24

Quoting

Assange was underground, and he wisely turned himself in to British authorities. The British won't let anything happen to him while they have him. It would be embarrassing and Wikileaks id holding the same gun to their heads as the US. Everyone except Assange is in a no-win situation.
Even if Assange is jailed or assassinated, and made into a hero/martyr, Wikileaks and the quarter million documents are still in play, and harder to track down and supress. Killing him won't change that any more than killing Osama bin Laden would end al Qaeda,
The best outcome for the US, as the author concluded, is for exradition to be refused, the US to cooperate with Wikileaks in redacting the remaining documents, take their lumps, and move on.

I'm sorry Mr. Averill, but the British, like many other countries, are our lapdogs. They will do anything our govt. tells them, legle or not (they went into an unjust war with us).

+1 # Ralph Averill 2010-12-14 14:42

That was Tony Blair, whose fatal political mistake was believing George Bush had a brain and the US gov't. had some integrity. He was seen as the US "lapdog". The current British gov't. is not going to make that mistake. If the current British gov't. was a "lapdog", Assange would have been turned over to US authorities the day he gave himself up. The US gov't. doesn't have any more "lapdogs"; it would be political suicide.

+1 # othermother 2010-12-15 04:19

The British government aren't lapdogs, but they are if anything more devoted to hiding questionable operations of government than the US is. And of course their own official secrets have been threatened by Wikileaks.

+8 # Shadowsdog 2010-12-14 04:07

Nation of laws?
yes but laws are not some thing divine,
nor with justice,
they are for discrimination, by design. "we" lost control of that dog long ago. now it bites "US".

+13 # Tim Norris 2010-12-14 00:11

With the current nonsense focussed around Assange, has everyone forgotten about the rights of young PFC Manning who is apparently still sitting in solitary somewhere. has he been tried yet or is he just like any other Guantanemo detainee with no rights at all? Does he not classify, and get some protection, as a whistle-blower - that is if it actually was him.

+3 # B. 2010-12-14 12:26

Quoting

With the current nonsense focussed around Assange, has everyone forgotten about the rights of young PFC Manning who is apparently still sitting in solitary somewhere. has he been tried yet or is he just like any other Guantanemo detainee with no rights at all? Does he not classify, and get some protection, as a whistle-blower - that is if it actually was him.

Understand Mr. Norris, when you enlist in the military, you loose you're rights as a citizen of this country, the rights granted in the very document you swear under-oath to protect.

+2 # othermother 2010-12-15 04:21

PFC Manning is probably going to languish for a long time--it's quite true that serving soldiers don't have the same rights as civilians. Whether this is right or not is another matter.

+8 # maddy 2010-12-14 00:14

It only goes to prove the US is also guilty of doing what is blamed on others, but wish remain a secret. A bully never really wins. no matter how many they hurt. Everyone should try to be their best self, and perhaps we all would get along better. The one problem now in the US, are the ones following the immature Palin, Beck, Fox type and the bully leaders who wish to control the world.

+10 # Yves 2010-12-14 00:51

The US Govt, i.e. Cheney & Bush expose a CIA agent (which is plainly against US law and punishable as a major crime)Valerie Plame causing her to lose her position, putting her life and the other agents in danger plus loss of life ... not to mention the destruction of the US network in Iran and then complains against redfacted info from Weakileaks? The US is wrong and hypocritical to the extreme. The US should be sanctioned by other freedom loving countries. Disgusting.

+7 # Progressive_Patriot 2010-12-14 00:56

One thing that I realized the other day is that the government may not be able to prove their case against Assange, unless they can prove that he, personally, handled the documents. he's the front man ... the visible representative, but does our government even know where the people who are actually handling the documents are?

There are no real grounds for extradition, but if they get the right judge...

+7 # HAL 2010-12-14 02:12

Some years from now after all this mess is history, we will be able to watch the plot evolve into (1) a book, (2) a movie, or (3) an opera, or perhaps all of the above! And I don't doubt that Uncle Sam will wear the black hat and long curving mustache!

+12 # whoopingcrone 2010-12-14 04:19

Maybe we should notice what we're NOT noticing... that by creating all the hoo-hah abt Assange, the U.S. govt has neatly turned our attention away from the leaks, which are important, to a "will-they-won't-they" [catch him] OJ chase.

+5 # B. 2010-12-14 08:00

Quoting

Maybe we should notice what we're NOT noticing... that by creating all the hoo-hah abt Assange, the U.S. govt has neatly turned our attention away from the leaks, which are important, to a "will-they-won't-they" [catch him] OJ chase.

You may be right, as was pointed out in comments on another story, what if their was info about 9-11 in the other cables not released yet. If so, they will kill him in a heartbeat.

+2 # othermother 2010-12-15 04:25

Not sure it's 'government' that's responsible for the shift; media assume that the public love a good melodrama and don't love sifting zillions of documents for nuggets of significant information. But government is probably quite happy to have details of Assange's breakfast on the front page rather than the contents of the diplomatic mail.

+7 # diabolo 2010-12-14 05:00

The US political establishment is already a global laughing stock. The hypocrisy in open view!The global lecturer on freedom committing treason on her own values and constitution! The long term consequences will be diminished US global influence and increased passive resistance of other governments. Assange is already a global hero and the world will watch very closely. If Assange disappears in a cell or some other way, the US government/political system will have lost all credibility! Maybe the US population will finally weak up and forcefully defend their precious freedoms against their government. Any future leak web site will operate in total anonymity as a corporation or foundation with no front man. Any prosecution attempt will run empty since it will operate under hundreds of mirror sites and in dozens of countries. It will even be protected under the US constitution since the US Supreme Court awarded legal person status to corporations. Obama's presidency will go down in right wing flames and he will surely be a one time president!

+3 # othermother 2010-12-15 04:31

Obama's presidency may well go down in flames with the further erosion of his support base by this; he has disappointed on other civil liberties issues and is not showing enough backbone on such obvious issues as don't ask-don't tell, where the polls are clear. If he hasn't kicked ass on tax cuts/unemployment compensation I don't look for hope here.

+4 # Annette Smith 2010-12-14 05:19

I find Assange to be obnoxious, arrogant, and self-serving. I think what he did was wreckless. But it is ridiculous for the U.S. to prosecute him while giving a pass to those in our own government who committed far worse acts including torture, violating our civil rights and outing one of their own agents!

+4 # lindalou 2010-12-14 13:11

Quoting

I find Assange to be obnoxious, arrogant, and self-serving. I think what he did was wreckless. But it is ridiculous for the U.S. to prosecute him while giving a pass to those in our own government who committed far worse acts including torture, violating our civil rights and outing one of their own agents!

I wonder - does Annette find Bush and cronies to be obnoxious and arrogant after they leaked Valerie Plain? It is reckless hypocrisy that our own government official did such an evil and then go after Assange. I do agree with Annette our U.S. government is ridiculous.

+6 # Jim Klimaski 2010-12-14 06:10

The First Amendment will offer little protection in a prosecution of Julian. The Obama Administration has shown no interest in the Bill of Rights and the Supreme Court couldn't care less about the First Amendment except as it applies to corporations. As for a public relations disaster, this Administration, and future Administrations , would relish the opportunity to imprison anyone who had the courage to expose the Government's secrets.

+10 # genierae 2010-12-14 06:20

We live in a country that pretends to be a democracy until its ugly underbelly is uncovered, then we see the true nature of the United States government. When the Obama administration's "liberal" Attorney-General Holder is behaving like the Gestapo, what hope is there for any real justice? I do think that they will be very careful about the way this looks to the world, they will try to put the best possible face on it, but I'm beginning to think that if Julian Assange is extradited to this country, he is in real danger of suffering a fatal "accident". We must protest in every way that we can.

+2 # hydroweb 2010-12-14 06:39

wikileaks.ch...

http://88.80.16.63/torrent/cablegate/cablegate-201012141239.7z.torrent

Why do I get this?

"The file you have requested could not be found.

You can visit our IRC channel:

* Using the web interface available here
* Using regular IRC client, connect to chat.wikileaks.org SSL port 9999"

Has the .ch site been disabled?

+7 # Ted Reynolds 2010-12-14 06:56

I wouldn't be so optimistic about Assange's leverage in a trial. In 1958, Earle Reynolds was put on trial for entering a "prohibited" area in the Pacific Ocean where atomic bomb tests were being conducted. He was protesting against nuclear testing. He lined up scads of potential witnesses and scientific evidence about the dangers of testing, and a solid case for the illegality of the statute setting up the prohibited area. The judge permitted none of these witnesses, evidence, or legal arguments to be presented to the jury. The only questions he allowed my father to answer were "Did you know there was such a prohibition announced?" and "Did you enter that area?" Then he ended all testimony, and the jury had no option but to find him guilty.
They can do that with Julian; precious little leverage he'll have then.

+6 # genierae 2010-12-14 09:40

Mr. Reynolds: God bless your father! When we attempt great things, we also take great risks. In this world these two almost always go together.

+2 # othermother 2010-12-15 04:34

I think your pessimism will be justified if the Alexandria grand jury I've heard rumors of finds there are grounds for charging Assange. I wonder why we are not hearing more about this grand jury.

If an indictment is handed down, then most likely an extradition request would be honoured by the UK.

+3 # Glen 2010-12-15 05:59

Have you seen the Japanese version of the nuclear time line of bomb testing and by which country? It is amazing and points out a very real need to put an end to it. All of it.

I was unaware of anyone such as your father protesting what should have been obvious to protest. It is a relief to know there was that. There is no way of knowing how many voices have been silenced forever for attempting sanity.

+7 # Todd Williams 2010-12-14 07:21

I'm not so certain he will be killed. After all, he is now Time mag's Person of the Year. He is known worldwide. Assassinating him would lead to some very intense investigations. This is all about to come to a head and it's going to be interesting to see the play. I think the Obama administration is playing with fire by pursuing this.

+9 # B. 2010-12-14 07:56

Quoting

I'm not so certain he will be killed. After all, he is now Time mag's Person of the Year. He is known worldwide. Assassinating him would lead to some very intense investigations. This is all about to come to a head and it's going to be interesting to see the play. I think the Obama administration is playing with fire by pursuing this.

If he's brought to this country, who's going to investigate his "accident", the un-justice dept. ??

+2 # othermother 2010-12-15 04:36

Todd, don't expect that 'intense investigations' would have any merit if they weren't conducted by an independent prosecutor. Even then, witnesses might refuse to testify on national security grounds.

+10 # Montana 2010-12-14 08:11

Do not assume Assange will ever go to trial. There will be an unfortunate 'accident', or an unexplained 'illness'. The Powers that Be, have had no problem assasinating Presidents, or Senators or Judges. The cause of all the turmoil is not what has been leaked, but what is yet to be leaked: specifically information about multinational banks and corporations. V

+9 # giraffe 2010-12-14 09:38

I am in a lawsuit -- our country does not judge by the Rule of Law and Rule of Evidence. The judges have the POWER -- May the force be with Assange - because the judicial system is fraught with corruption - grrr.

My 2 cents is: Assange is the HERO of the average American -- and the enemy of the government (because they will be exposed as long as the Leaks LEAK)

+3 # Carl 2010-12-14 09:53

I recently read a post by some govt IS types who stated SIPRNet is supposed to be accessed through thin clients and software designed to prevent downloading, etc... Their point was that the US Army disregarded those regs to provide it in the clear through laptops.

+4 # Activista 2010-12-14 10:11

interpol is not very efficient in hunting human scavengers and killers -
Kososvo - Sonmez (Turk) and Harel (Israel) are listed as wanted by Interpol. Sonmez is the subject of several criminal proceedings in other countries, including Turkey, for human trafficking and removal of organs.

Another two foreign doctors, Israeli national Zaki Shapira and Turkish national Kenan Demirkol, are identified in the 46-page document as "unindicted coconspirators".
-- broken condom is a crime? and cutting people for organs (money) - is kosher? Interpol is another institution for oligarchs ... and USrael.

+8 # John McAlpin 2010-12-14 11:20

The dirty conspiracy here is the US Government and its unAmerican masters.

+6 # yaY 2010-12-14 12:45

Ironic, isn't it? Members of the present administration have to defend the duplicitous words and acts of members of the former administration, and as well as many of their own deceitful words and actions. Forever is over.

+4 # IGiveUp 2010-12-14 13:37

Assassination or Rendition are, I believe, the current tools of choice in this country.

+1 # rm 2010-12-15 06:06

I'm just afraid that Peter Kirwan is naieve about the US justice system. If Assange is extradited to the US, the charges can be anything at all. Prosecutors now have the ability to make the most outrageous claims in court. The case of Lynne Stewart is relevant. The trial was in NYC and the prosecutors referenced 9-11 over and over until they connected Lynne Stewart to the 9-11 attacks in the minds of the jury. Assange will be tried in Alexandria VA where a group of kids playing paintball were convicted of "training to kill americans." Alexandria courts could convict a ham sandwich of terrorism. It doesn't matter what Assange is charged with or what the facts are. This will be a political trial and it will be run in the same way that political campaigns are.

+2 # Harold R. Mencher 2010-12-15 09:40

I doubt the reality of this article. The United States has used double-standards for decades and decades to prosecute the weak and the helpless and protect actual criminals, both government and civilian, from prosecution when it was someone who was very high up in the government, or someone that was an ally to the U.S. government. The U.S. will have no compunction in prosecuting Assange, a non-citizen, for a crime that he did not commit, and yet will not prosecute Scooter Libby or Dick Cheney or Karl Rove for outing Valerie Plame as an act of pure vengeance against her husband.

No, I don't think that the U.S. will be hurt in any way by extraditing Assange to this country and perpetrating a kangaroo court to charge Assange with a phony charge and put him away for life.

As I have mentioned so often in past postings, the U.S. is the biggest Gorilla in the room and can do whatever it wants whenever it wants because no one and no country can or will stop it.

0 # howard sagar 2010-12-16 15:37

Quoting

No, I don't think that the U.S. will be hurt in any way by extraditing Assange to this country and perpetrating a kangaroo court to charge Assange with a phony charge and put him away for life.

As I have mentioned so often in past postings, the U.S. is the biggest Gorilla in the room and can do whatever it wants whenever it wants because no one and no country can or will stop it.

Maybe and maybe not. I kind of agree with you but I can't help wondering if we aren't through the looking glass on this whole matter. Would anybody be surprised if an offer of asylum came for Assange from a cave in Tora Bora. I mean that guy was/is pretty "most wanted" and seems that big ol' dumb gorilla just let him go more than once. Sorry, but my point is, its all smoke and mirrors and we don't know shit. Talk is, its the israeli's that facillitated all these cables, since they do seem to have an extraordinary access to american surveillance. Just so many kettles of fish, so little time.

-1 # oldasiahand 2010-12-16 08:48

Under the unjust extradition treaty between the US and the UK all the US has to do is ask and he will be handed over. No questions. The present Govt wants to make the traty more equal but that will be too late for Assange.

+1 # Dion Giles 2010-12-16 17:34

Breaching the American Espionage Act, exposing American interests to danger, outing traitors who betray their countries' secrets to the American regime - all those activities may be held by self-servers to be unlawful in America. But they are no more unlawful when carried out by non-Americans outside America than it would be for an American to act outside Cuba against what Cuba may regard as its national security.

There needs to be less focus on American's pretensions of extraterritoria l rights and more on the question of British judges and officials kowtowing them. The attempts to have Assange forced to go to Sweden suggests the American regime has more confidence in Swedish spinelessness than in British when it comes to rendering a non-American to America for offending American government sensitivities.

0 # drew 2010-12-18 10:55

Time to push obama outof the white house and impeach him becasue he is stupid

+1 # Mike Varady 2010-12-18 16:34

If a government is worried about being embarrassed or damaged, then clearly it needs to conduct its business in a manner that won't bring it embarrassment, damage, or shame.

When an organization -- a government, a religion, a huge corporation, commits crimes or unethical actions that needs to be revealed to the world. In the case of WikiLeaks, the revealed e-mails tell us of far worse situations than that caused by WikiLeak's revealing them.

Diverting the attention of the world by going after Assange and the young private from the government's actions is pretty recognizable by most people; and it will certainly destroy the would-be destroyers in the long run. It's unfortunate that the WikiLeaks people should be martyred by the criminal actions and secrets of Obama and Mrs. Clinton, et al.

Release the soldier and stop pursuing Assange because he didn't wear a rubber while having sex -- a criminal act only in Sweden which the two women must have known about when they joined in on their consensual acts. Dropping all charges will make those who messed up look like better humans. And boy, do they need to look like better humans!

+1 # Mike Varady 2010-12-18 16:40

As far as I could see, in the last four days, the L.A. Times has been virtually wordless -- beyond a one-time small article.

By not supporting Assange and making a really big deal out of this, mainstream press is harming its much-vaunted freedom of the press. If Assange is found guilty, every paper and newspaper will have to avoid any controversial comments on governmental actions.

They will have poisoned their own pen.

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