The Progressive: "the U.S. government is intent on destroying Julian Assange

[Better Believe It]

Julian Assange, like Daniel Ellsberg and Joe Wilson, Feels the Heat
By Matthew Rothschild
Editor of The Progressive
December 7, 2010

What I know for an absolute fact is that the U.S. government is intent on destroying him.

They want to destroy him not for allegedly committing a sex crime but for committing the crime of journalism, for exercising the right of free speech and freedom of the press.

Until his arrest, the U.S. government seemed to be putting more pressure on him than Osama bin Laden.

This is the most reactionary, repressive response to speech and to the press since Daniel Ellsberg’s Pentagon papers.

Read the full article at:

http://www.progressive.org/wx120710.html

[Oceansaway]

1. K&R...n/t

[Better Believe It]

2. And Osama bin Lyin thought he was facing pressure!

[snot]

3. I was young & inattentive at the time of the Pentagon Papers--anyone remember

what that was like, how the pressure on Ellsberg compares to what's being brought to bear on Assange?

[WinkyDink]

13. Ellsberg was arrested and indicted. The case was declared a mistrial becasue of govt malfeasance.

Obviously, there was no international (e.g., Interpol) component.

[yodermon]

4. The US Gov't is not so stupid as to believe that wikileaks rises & falls with Assange

He is one man. Good grief. The very nature of the wikileaks model is that its strength is the in the *decentralized*, *distributed* nature of the network.

That everyone is so obsessed with One Guy boggles my mind. It is fantastic misdirection on wikileaks' part and i cannot believe the USGov't is falling for it, even though the media and much of DU is.

[bemildred]

7. The US government can be amazingly stupid. And intransigent about it too. nt

[starroute]

17. It's about intimidation

Basic organized crime tactics. You take out the leader to intimidate the little guys.

Their problem is in thinking of Assange as a "leader," of course.

[NoPasaran]

5. You fuck with the Man, the Man fucks with you

Enjoy your cell, Mr Assange.

[frylock]

19. we're all "enjoying our cell"

[yodermon]

6. I can't believe the USGov't is so naive as to think that wikileaks rises/falls on One Man's fate.

He is one man. Good grief. The very nature of the wikileaks model is that its strength is the in the *decentralized*, *distributed* nature of the network.

That everyone is so obsessed with One Guy boggles my mind. It is fantastic misdirection on wikileaks' part and i cannot believe the USGov't is falling for it, even though the media and much of DU is.

[ladjf]

9. You mean one man like Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein?

[14thColony]

10. True, but I doubt that's the point of the exercise

Like union-busters at the turn of the 20th century, they know they can't find and neutralize every single Wikileaks supporter. But take a "union leader" like Assange and break his arms, legs and jaw in plain view of his supporters and it sends a strong message as to the dangers of future such activity. Mafias, old-school union-busters, political terrorists, inclusive humanitarian democratic Western governments -- all understand the utility of demonstrations like this. That's why I seriously doubt anyone will know what ever became of Julian Assange this time next year, assuming he's even still alive.

[ladjf]

8. It's all about control. nt

[bemildred]

11. Indeed. nt

[ladjf]

12. It's the stuff that one expects from dictators, tyrants and juntas. nt

[Warpy]

14. Well, there have been more whistleblowers here so there are more

State Department and Pentagon bureaucrats in major huffs after being exposed as who and what they really are.

However, Assange has managed to piss off all the owners and rulers, worldwide, a remarkable achievement. Remember, he's also posted stuff from "closed" countries like North Korea, too.

The US has a lot of help trying to neutralize him. Alas, it's all doomed to failure. Former associates have promised to get sister sites up and running soon.

[Cleita]

15. If Assange has the same toughness that I have seen

in his fellow Aussies, my bet is that the US government will be the ones destroyed, not Assange. It's already happening. We are losing even more credibility than we had lost through Bush due to how we are reacting to Assange's revelations.

[readmoreoften]

16. Under Bush it was "the Bush Administration". Under Obama its "the US Gov."

It's the Obama Administration doing this. Let's be consistent.

[Bluerthanblue]

18. And who can honestly say Julian Assange isn't intent on destroying the US government?

While I do NOT agree with the push to discredit and stop what Mr.Assange is doing, I don't agree with some of what his wikileaks is doing, and the way in which he is doing it.

The people that call for Mr.Assange's assassination are idiots, and should be condemned imo.

There is wrong on both sides of this issue.

I do believe however, that if the US government is as corrupt and evil as some people here claim, the man not only wouldn't be breathing, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to leak anything of substance after his war diary leaks.

[Better Believe It]

20. I can. Unless you think that people knowing the truth about the Obama administrations foreign ...

policy would be bad and will somehow destroy it.

How would that destruction take place in your fantasy scenario?