'Assange could face torture in US but arrest won't stop leaks'

[The Northerner]

Run time: 04:49 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu0Z1hOxK68   Posted on YouTube: November 03, 2011 By YouTube Member: RussiaToday Views on YouTube: 306   Posted on DU: November 03, 2011 By DU Member: The Northerner Views on DU: 1522

 
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange may find himself on Swedish soil very soon, after losing his battle against extradition from Britain. There, he'll have to answer sexual misconduct allegations, which he denies and describes as politically-motivated. UK-based investigative journalist Tony Gosling says mainstream media can't produce investigative work so Assange is very crucial and everyone needs to defend him.

[tcaudilllg]

1. Gee, what about "Assange, a guy willing to make tough choices for the rest of us?"

I think he just has low energy for dealing with conflicts. When he's thinking about how to deal with people on his own terms, he's reflective. When thinking about about how to deal with people breathing down his neck, he's reactive. Bottom line if not for Assange, the world would be even more worse off today than it otherwise would have been.

I think Obama is a coward by comparison. Assange showed him the world was not as neat and sedate as he wanted to think it was, and that's his real beef. Obama wanted to live in a fantasy world where there were three threats to America: the GOP, Iran, and al Qaeda. He aimed to be a good president under his nation's own pretentious standards, and if that meant smoothing over relationships with people who he "needed" to control Islamic societies, then so be it. He thinks he deserves the credit for these uprisings because he gave a speech, but it was Assange (and Bradley Manning) who blackened the names of these dictators in the eyes of the world by demonstrating their avaricious private characters. I'm expecting Obama will suffer the indignity of losing his Nobel Prize before it's over. I'm amazed people on this forum still give him a pass as to how he deals with the banks. It's like half the left just puts blinders on, like they are in denial.

[NorthCarolina]

2. I agree with much of what you say, but I don't think it is the "Left" that has

put blinders on. Rather, I think it is those right of center Dem centrists that claim to be part of the left, but in reality have no comprehension of what the left truly stands for, and wouldn't agree with it if they did.

[unionworks]

3. Julian is the one who really deserves the Nobel Prize

I have never in my lifetime seen the U.S. government go after someone the way they went after this man. They brought to bear against him the full weight of the State department - in a fashion usually reserved for top shelf enemy intelligence operatives - FOR TELLING THE TRUTH. God help this courageous and righteous man.

[unionworks]

4. an elderly female relative

Of mine was actively involved in the cold war clandestine festivities. She followed the Assange story with great interest, and the pain on her face was evident when they went after him. She is in her 80's, former OSS, and she knew exactly what they were doing to him. It saddened her deeply.

[unionworks]

5. BTW

If my elderly relative had served in the "regular military", she would be classified as a disabled veteran. She is missing a leg as the result of her activities. The clandestine services were the only service where women served as front line combatants. My heart bursts with pride every time I visit her.

[AsahinaKimi]

6. Interesting that they brought up Bradley Manning...

We haven't heard that name for quite a while. He has kind of been forgotten here on DU, more or less. I haven't seen one posting on him for quite some time.