The propagandists have all gone dead silent on the WikiLeaks founder they previously were smearing with relentless viciousness, because they no longer have an argument. The facts are all in, and yes, it turns out the US government is certainly and undeniably working to exploit legal loopholes to imprison a journalist for exposing its war crimes. That is happening, and there is no justifying it.
So the narrative managers, by and large, have gone silent.
Which is good. Because it gives us an opening to seize control of the narrative.
It’s time to go on the offensive with this. Assange supporters have gotten so used to playing defense that it hasn’t fully occurred to us to go on a full-blown charge. I’ve been guilty of this as well; I’ll be letting myself get bogged down in some old, obsolete debate with someone about some obscure aspect of the Swedish case or something, not realizing that none of that matters anymore. All the narrative manipulations that were used to get Assange to this point are impotent, irrelevant expenditures of energy compared to the fact that we now have undeniable evidence that the US government is working to set a precedent which will allow it to jail any journalist who exposes its misdeeds, and we can now force Assange’s smearers to confront this reality.
“Should journalists be jailed for exposing US war crimes? Yes or no?”
That’s the debate now. Not Russia. Not Sweden. Not whether he followed proper bail protocol or washed his dishes at the embassy. That’s old stuff. That’s obsolete. That’s playing defense.
Now we play offense: “Should journalists be jailed for exposing US war crimes? Yes or no?”
Demand an answer. Call attention to them and demand that they answer. Dig them out of their hidey holes and make them answer this. Drag them out into the light and make them answer this question in front of everyone. Because that is all this is about now.
Don’t get sidetracked. Don’t get tricked into debating defensively. Force the issue: the US government is trying to establish and normalize the practice of extraditing and imprisoning journalists for exposing its misdeeds. That is the issue to focus on.
You will find that anyone who dares to stick their head above the parapet and smear Assange now gets very, very squirmy if you pin them down and force them to address this issue. Because they cannot answer without admitting that they are wrong. And that they’ve been wrong this entire time. It’s a completely unassailable argument.
We now have two and a half months to prepare for the second half of Julian Assange’s extradition hearing: all of March, all of April, and half of May. We’re going to need all that time to seize control of the narrative and make it very, very clear to the world that a very important decision is about to be made by the powerful on our behalf, if we don’t make that decision for them.
This really is do or die time, humans. If we allow them to extradite and imprison Julian Assange for practicing journalism, that’s it. It’s over. We might as well all stop caring what happens to the world and sit on our hands while the oligarchs drive us to ecological disaster, nuclear annihilation or authoritarian dystopia. It’s impossible to hold power accountable if you’re not even allowed to see what it’s doing.
If we, the many, don’t have the spine to stand up against the few and say “No, we get to find out facts about you bastards and use it to inform our worldview, you don’t get to criminalize that,” then we certainly won’t have the spine it will take to wrest control of this world away from the hands of sociopathic plutocrats and take our fate into our own hands. We are deciding, right now, what we are made of. And what we want to become.
This is it. This is the part of the movie where we collectively choose the red pill or the blue pill. We are collectively being asked a question here, and our answer to that question will determine the entire course we will take as a species.
So what’s it going to be, humanity?
Truth, or lies?
Light, or darkness?
A world where we can hold power to account with the light of truth, or a world where power decides what’s true for us?
A world with free speech and a free press, or a world where journalists are imprisoned whenever they expose the evils of the most powerful institutions on this planet?
A world where we all actively fight to free Assange and get the job done, or a giant, irreversible leap toward the end of humanity as we know it?
Do we free Assange?
Or do we sit complacent with our Netflix and our KFC and trust the authority figures to do what’s best?
Do we take the red pill?
Or do we take the blue one?
Choose your path, humans.
Choose wisely.
____________________________
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79 responses to “Humanity Is Making A Very Important Decision When It Comes To Assange”
I don’t buy the UN’s story about this wikileaks( CIA)operative . If he was problematic he would’ve been killed not made into a celeb for all the (Pseudo-liberal) leftys to worship.
The info on the torture was desired to be released to cause fear in Washington’s enemies.
Wikileaks was created( by the one eye) to find the whistle blowers BEFORE info was release.
1)There is no internet freedom.
Assange did not create internet freedom.
he works for CIA he was not jailed in Embassy he was living there and making babies, partying, entertaining other celebs and Illuminati.
I guess to believe he was tortured and jailed you would have to believe the UN and MSM and only fools would trust the UN.
Remarkable video today on Julian Assange with the UK Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, John McDonnell:
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“Please don’t underestimate the importance of this case for the future of our democracy”
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John McDonnell on the Trial of Julian Assange — Double Down News — Mar 2, 2020
Thanks. And while this may distract from your arguement, I think it needs said.
Question : Why isn’t Luke Harding in the dock with Julian Assange?
Luke Harding works for the Guardian as a reporter. I have also read these allegations:
worked for Orbis and Hakluyt;
MI6’s favourite reporter;
a known asset of British Intelligence;
a mouthpiece for MI6;
has connections to Integrity Initiative.
He is also one of two authors of “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy”
That book published the password to encrypted unredacted files circulated online that would later be used to allege that Julian Assange put lives at risk.
So why isn’t David Leigh and Luke Harding in the dock with Julian Assange?
Might that be that having an intelligence Asset in the dock would raise unwelcome questions?
Such as “Who benefited from publishing the password to the encrypted unredacted names?”
I’ve only just watched the Assange skit from last week’s Micallef’s Mad As Hell. It is disgraceful. You can watch it (from the 18 minute mark) here: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/shaun-micallef-s-mad-as-hell Series 11, Ep 4
I’ve put the following posts (and some other reply comments) onto the Mad As Hell Facebook page. I suggest as many people as possible visit the page and do similar – make the point and scale of the message un-ignorable.. https://www.facebook.com/madashelltv/
“Greg Wood Those who are comfortable with impugning Assange as a sex offender, particularly those who influentially broadcast such malign commentary (Mr Micallef?), should muster the decency to commit the 10 minutes or so needed to read the linked transcript of interview with Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture: https://www.republik.ch/…/nils-melzer-about-wikileaks… Do these actual facts give cause for reflection upon the act of inflicting serious personal harm upon Assange by way of transmitting gossipy confected smears, particularly as the harm is upon an individual who has acted so clearly and substantially in the public interest and is now being severely punished for that public interest action? Mr. Micallef, do you support a free press or do you support the smears constructed by those working overtime to restrict it? Currently your resume places you in the latter camp. Any capacity to change that given the facts?
More particularly Mr Micallef, 1) should journalists be jailed for exposing US war crimes? Yes or no?” 2) Should comedians help journalists be jailed by proliferating false public belief in the character smearing of journalists under prosecution for exposing US war crimes? Yes or no?”
“Should journalists be jailed for exposing US war crimes?”
The general public will say “No”, but the ruling sociopaths will say “Yes”. So who will prevail? Who has the power? The public outnumbers the ruling sociopaths by a million to 1, but the ruling sociopaths control the media and the money system, and have for over 100 years. This has allowed them to buy up everything else they need to mind-control the public. So perhaps the vast majority of the general public cannot say “No” after all. They are no longer free to think in an independent manner. They unconsciously serve the ruling sociopaths. They unconsciously think according to their narrative. They obey authority, and that authority is a hierarchy controlled by the ruling sociopaths. The longevity of the Holocaust Lie is an example of how effective this system of control is. If the success of the Holocaust Lie is any indication, Assange is already toast. And so are we. But resistance is not futile. In fact, it is our only hope.
I’ve just posted one thing we can all do right now to address this (im)balance – deluge the postings and pages of public commentators who transgress the truth on Assange with demands for accountability to the facts. Hit Micallef right now to get the ball rolling. It worked a treat last week on Alan Jones (oz shock jock).
When America wages wars of aggression and commits crimes against humanity, they are not war crimes.
They are Freedom and Democracy in action.
I know this because the American Free Press and its propaganda mouthpieces like the New York Times told me so.
People like Julian Assange who question this reality are heretics and must be sent to America’s Gitmo Gulag for “enhanced interrogation” and CIA “rectal feeding” torture.
/sarc
I believe the evidence shows, unquestionably, that Chelsea Manning is an intelligence asset and Collateral Murder is faked.
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Assuming my belief is correct, this exposure may well help Julian although it may not.
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Please allow the possibility that my belief is correct even if at this point you pooh-pooh the idea. It’s important to keep an open mind, no? Very important to keep an open mind, especially in a critical situation like this. And shouldn’t we always be willing to question our assumptions?
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All you need to do is the following:
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— Carefully watch Chelsea’s first interview after her 7-year sentence with Juju Chang, ABC’s Nightline anchor (11 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSx1VG8UnF8
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— Watch Collateral Murder and compare the audio track with the footage (17 minutes).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0
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If you find no anomalies then you can wholeheartedly reject my claim. That’s fair enough … but at least you’ve had a look, right? At least you’ve done due diligence on examining evidence for a claim that you currently reject just in case it turns out to be correct. After all, how many times in the past have you believed one thing only to realise your belief was incorrect? I’ve changed my mind on my beliefs a large number of times, especially since I woke up to 9/11 – countless times in the last 5 years, I’d say … and, of course, I changed it on Chelsea and Collateral Murder. Totally believed in them from 2010 until April last year, when a glamour photo of Chelsea struck me as anomalous to her situation … and then I took a closer look.
I’ve looked at the interview video. In no way at all does it shake the meaning or symmetry of the myriad other things that undermine your proposition. Similarly I have no idea how a glamour photo might be anomalous to Manning’s situation.
My kindest response is that you’re short circuiting from conspiracy overload and cannot reach outside of your own conditioning to evaluate the behaviour of others. Beyond that you may have a vexatious intent. Best you give the sell-job a rest. It’s going nowhere.
As I said, Greg, if you don’t find anomalies in the interview or the film you’ve at least shown an open mind by looking and that is all I can ask. What I think best to do is rather than try to push my analysis (which I’ve been doing) is simply encourage others to look and decide for themselves. You’ve looked and decided all OK. Fair enough.
I appreciate you having an open mind and looking.
Bologna
So funny, Victor. When I first saw your comment I thought you were referring to the staged bombing at Bologna station in 1980. I guess fakery colours my world – not a pleasant feeling but someone’s got to uncover it, don’t they?
https://occamsrazorterrorevents.weebly.com/bologna-1980-and-mogadishu-2017.html
Petra Liverani wrote.
> Collateral Murder is faked.
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I’m afraid Collateral Murder is real.
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Reuters confirmed the death of its two reporters. Also the U.S. military:
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“Major Shawn Turner, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command . . . ‘We regret the loss of innocent life, but this incident was promptly investigated and there was never any attempt to cover up any aspect of this engagement,’ Turner said. . . .
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“David Schlesinger, Reuters’ editor-in-chief, said the video released by WikiLeaks showed the deaths of Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh were ‘tragic and emblematic of the extreme dangers that exist in covering war zones.’ . . .
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“Reuters has pressed the U.S. military to conduct a full and objective investigation into the killing of the two staff.”
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Leaked U.S. video shows deaths of Reuters’ Iraqi staffers — Reuters — April 6, 2010
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-usa-journalists/leaked-u-s-video-shows-deaths-of-reuters-iraqi-staffers-idUSTRE6344FW20100406
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Also WikiLeaks verified it, as always:
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“How WikiLeaks verifies its news stories
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“We assess all news stories and test their veracity. . . .
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“We use traditional investigative journalism techniques as well as more modern technology-based methods. . . .
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“We may also seek external verification of the document. For example, for our release of the Collateral Murder video, we sent a team of journalists to Iraq to interview the victims and observers of the helicopter attack. The team obtained copies of hospital records, death certificates, eye witness statements and other corroborating evidence supporting the truth of the story.
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“Our verification process does not mean we will never make a mistake, but so far our method has meant that WikiLeaks has correctly identified the veracity of every document it has published.
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“Publishing the original source material behind each of our stories is the way in which we show the public that our story is authentic. Readers don’t have to take our word for it; they can see for themselves. . . .
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“Most of all, we want readers know the truth so they can make up their own minds.”
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About — WikiLeaks — 7 May 2011
https://wikileaks.org/About.html
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And:
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‘I couldn’t stop crying’: Soldier relives ‘collateral murder’ video
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If it were faked then that would mean Reuters were in on it too. It’s not unreasonable to consider that a massive media organisation was not in on it too, is it? I mean how credible are their claims of what their journalists found? Think they never tell lies?
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“We assess all news stories and test their veracity.”
Please. As we know the mainstream media actively engages in fabricating stories we can take their claims with a grain of salt.
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When they hoax us they always give us the clues in the form of implausibilities, over-the-top ridiculousness, things that don’t add up and so on. Ethan tells us they gave him 13 medications including Geodon, Depakote and Prozac – all three anti-psychotic, anti-depressant tablets together plus 10 more tablets – what would the other 10 be for?
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13 callsigns appear in the video’s transcript (long version).
https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/en/transcript.html
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Bushmaster Five, Bushmaster Forty, Bushmaster Four, Bushmaster Seven, Bushmaster Six, Bushmaster Six-Romeo, Bushmaster Three-Six, Bushmaster Two-Six, Copperhead One-Six, Crazy Horse One-Eight (one helicopter), Hotel Two-Seven, Hotel Two-Six (the other helicopter), Victor Charlie Alpha
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Note: The identification of the two Apache helicopters in the transcript differs from the identification given in Wikipedia’s article on the airstrike.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airstrike
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There they are identified as Crazy Horse One-Eight and Crazy Horse One-Nine. While the Wikipedia article includes links to many sources it doesn’t include a source for the Crazy Horse callsigns and we might wonder why that is and why they differ from those in the transcript.
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13 callsigns is an awful lot and we have to wonder why the ground crew Ethan formed part of wasn’t one of those 13 callsigns. Why weren’t the Apache crews aware of the ground cover? This is never explained.
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On iMDB Ethan is described as an actor. In the films mentioned, he appears as himself, nevertheless he is described as an actor.
I thank you, JMG, because you’ve made me look more at Ethan and I think that is definitely worth doing.
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I found another video, WikiLeaks’ Collateral Murder: U.S. Soldier Ethan McCord, where Ethan addresses the United National Peace Conference, July 23-25, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kelmEZe8whI&list=PLmtCQX-bqrMPUFCOrzqjjEwrIHB9vw9O8
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I watched the first 5 minutes or so and this is what I found:
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At 4:26 he says about his platoon’s setting off for door knocking to check for weapons in the early morning:
“You could get caught up in the silence if you weren’t so afraid of being shot in the throat or in the thigh by a sniper. Snipers usually went for these areas because they were unprotected. The throat for obvious reasons and the thigh for your femoral artery. Many of us usually walked with the butts stuck up our M4s close to our neck for an almost futile attempt at protecting ourselves.”
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Then at 5:14 he says:
“The hours passed at doing this and we were finding absolutely nothing, getting extremely hot and agitated. Some of us began messing around taking pictures because there was nothing else to do … We started funnelling into an alleyway to leave the area when some locals on rooftops above us started firing their AK47s at us … we could hear other fire coming from another platoon just a few blocks from us as well. On the net we could hear that they were taking small arms as well as RPG fire.”
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Comments:
1. As I say, they always give us the clues, and one type is misspeaking. Of course, misspeaking happens naturally so it is up to the individual to decide whether the misspeaking is natural or deliberate. In the following case I say deliberate but, of course, you may say natural:
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When Ethan says “the butts stuck up our M4s close to our neck” he surely means “the butts of our M4s close to our necks”.
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2. The expression of extreme caution in relation to snipers followed by saying that they started messing around taking pictures doesn’t make sense.
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3. “… getting extremely hot and agitated”. Why agitated? Were they frustrated at not finding guns in homes? Perhaps bored but agitated?
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4. “… nothing else to do?” If they’d done all the searching they needed to do why would they hang out in an unprotected area?
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5. So Ethan’s crew were being fired on from rooftops and another platoon was firing and receiving fire but all of this escaped the Apaches’ attention. They were focused on guys with cameras? And the two ground crews were oblivious to the Apaches?
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6. I don’t know what is referred to by “On the net we could hear that they were taking small arms as well as RPG fire”. Ethan seems to say prior to this that they could hear fire FROM another platoon but on the net heard they were TAKING fire from small arms and RPGs (that is, from Iraqis). Wouldn’t Ethan’s crew hear both the fire from the other platoon and the fire they were receiving from small arms and RPGs in real life – why would they only be hearing the fire the other platoon was taking from the net? Perhaps someone can explain.
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7. So they’re hearing stuff “on the net” but they’re not in communication with the Apaches?
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8. And then there is, of course, the $64 million dollar question. If they were in an allegedly unprotected area where they felt in danger why on earth weren’t they in contact with the Apache helicopters. Could anything make less sense than that?
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One commenter on this video recognises a problem that I also recognised. They say:
“The guy in the chopper says “4-5 individuals with AK’s” – Not one AK can be seen in the image, whatsoever.”
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Another responds: “1AK and 1 RPG, even the soldier in the video confirms… still not acceptable.”
[At the time, though, when 4-5 individuals is said not one AK can be seen as the first commenter pointed out.]
Yes you must look closer at msm sotries adopted by liberal leftys being feed them from so called alternative news.These are not heros the Manning story is ..she allegedly spent one year in club fed and crowd funded her fine.
Assange and Manning stink .media made Lefty heros that are rightwing operatives.
Rumor has it that Mr. Buttiguaido is dropping out of the the democratic race for president. That may help Joe Biden a little bit but Mr. Biden is no match for Donald Trump.
> Rumor has it that Mr. Buttiguaido is dropping out . . .
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A great Caitlin’s tweet on this today:
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“I’ve had my criticisms of @PeteButtigieg, but he advanced some innovative ideas and as the first openly hey if you’re still reading this the US government is working to legalize the practice of extraditing and imprisoning journalists for exposing its war crimes, free Assange.”
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Caitlin Johnstone — Twitter — Mar 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1234277519613812736
In a world of justice, peace and wisdom, we don’t need government information to be classified as secret and we can have a world of justice, peace and wisdom if we grasp what the Great Liberator (Yeshua) said and meant when training His Ambassadors for revolution. Read more of this here: http://www.wisdompage.com/2013%20Articles/Molyneaux%20essay.pdf
Unless “Certain Members” of the Caucasian race are dealt with “Appropriately” over Their so-called “Anglo-Saxon Mission (Agenda 2021) for world domination (Manifest Destiny/ White Supremacy), They WILL face a “Extinction Level Event” for NOT living by “Cosmic Laws” made by OUR Creators.
A man called Bill Ryan explained this agenda VERY Clearly here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d86DRn7T098/
So far all THEY have done is carry out the “Racist Event” on 9/11/2001 to STOP Humanity from becoming EQUAL to one another…and so far STILL AT IT…with all the conflicts and designer diseases (Coronavirus) they have been up to since then.
Make no mistake…OUR Creators are WATCHING.
I believe, Caitlin, you’ve just written your most important essay yet. That has always been exactly the singular question from the first moment, and has only been obfuscated by media, at the best of State, for the Oligarchs who rule over us.
Thank you.
Semper Fidelis,
John McClain
GySgt, USMC, ret.
Vanceboro, NC, USA
Government officials perpetrate all kinds of evil under the cloak of security classification of information, and acting on behalf of psychopaths who rule the world. Specific evidence from Government information classified as secret should be made available to an independent commission of inquiry whenever someone discovers that secrecy was the cover for doing evil. Obviously it is difficult finding trusted independent candidates for a commission of inquiry, but the Keys of Knowledge constitute an irrefutable statistical procedure for checking and either confirming that the inquiry was indeed honest, thorough and trustworthy or for showing that the findings were biased, prejudiced, or rigged by hidden agendas.
In a world of justice, peace and wisdom, we don’t need government information to be classified as secret and we can have a world of justice, peace and wisdom if we grasp what the Great Liberator (Yeshua) said and meant when training His Ambassadors for revolution. Read more of this here: http://www.wisdompage.com/2013%20Articles/Molyneaux%20essay.pdf
The facts surrounding this case have changed not a whit in nearly a decade. The real axis of evil (US/UK/Israel) which has been waging a scorched earth war of conquest throughout the ME, NA and WAsia practices murder and takes political prisoners in order to hide its hideous inhuman misdeeds from the public. Assange, Manning and Snowden are just a few political prisoners we know about that have sacrificed their freedom, and perhaps their lives, to try to inform the public of these crimes against humanity.///////////
Rather than feeling shame in response to the exposure given their crimes, these outlaw countries have repeatedly doubled down in their persecution of these victims to tyranny. These powerful despots obviously think the public will learn a lesson and back off their complaints about being mistreated. They secretly gloat about the injustices and suffering they hand out to those seeking their human rights.//////////////
Their message is clear: anyone who fucks with our oppression of the people like these whistleblowers and journalists did will be attacked and punished with extreme prejudice. WE elite insiders are the masters of this planet, NOT the people. How dare you presume OUR role? You have no rights other than what we pretend to allow you, and that is squat if you dare to annoy us by opposing or even criticising us.///////////////
Excellent summary of the sad situation
Assange has some support from a few journalists and dissidents but the majority of the populace sit complacent with Netflix and KFC, trusting the authority figures to do what’s best. The truth we hate to admit is that even dissidents and protestors are relatively complacent with their circumstances and inadvertently (usually indirectly) support the status quo which they so aggressively criticize and this will continue for years to come because they are victims of Deep State propaganda, empowered by Big Money and Big Business. The evil empire will only be defeated when dissidents study, understand and collectively put into practice the revolutionary strategy and tactics which Yeshua trained His Ambassadors to teach and practice. Unfortunately, His revolutionary strategy and tactics are so brilliant, exceptional and powerful that this is way above the mental abilities even for highly intelligent and well-educated people who fail to grasp what Yeshua said and meant when training His Ambassadors. Read more of this here: http://www.wisdompage.com/2013%20Articles/Molyneaux%20essay.pdf
So, by Caitlin’s criteria stated above, you’ve already taken the blue pill?
Go on the offensive.. that’s great but Let’s turn it around. Make it positive, powerful
not: “Should journalists be jailed for exposing US war crimes? Yes or no?”
instead: “Journalists who expose war crimes are true heroes.”
“Journalists who publish the truth deserve the highest honours.”
“Journalists who expose war crimes are upholding the greatest human virtues.”
Yes Yes Yes, but more than that we need active revolutionaries.
In principle I completely agree. However strategically an incisive question is much more powerful than an assertion. The latter can be easily and relatively unnoticeably ignored. The former demands an answer and the lack of, indeed the visible avoidance of, an answer is itself an acutely illuminating answer.
LabourUK preferred losing to Johnson than winning with Corbyn. The US Democrat party would rather lose to Trump than win with Sanders. Mainstream western media is sacrificing Assange instead of promoting press freedom. British paparazzi gags to spot Poshbecks driving a Bugatti over catching the destruction of Habeas Corpus by Arbuthraitser. Imagine believing that Amnesty, Bellingcat?, CFR, CPJ, FDD, FVEY, GMF, HRW, IMF, NATO, NED, OPCW, and USAID promote/support freedom and human rights around the world.
DISCLAIMER: According to a statement on file with the US state department; I was born, raised, and reside in the USA, but the Internet Research Agency of Saint Petersburg, RUSSIARUSSIARUSSIA!!! pays me to post these missives.
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Caitlin Johnstone wrote:
> The facts are all in, and yes, it turns out the US government is certainly and undeniably working to exploit legal loopholes to imprison a journalist for exposing its war crimes. That is happening, and there is no justifying it.
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Yes, that is what is happening in the extradition hearings. A very informative interview on them, with two great journalists:
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On Contact: Julian Assange Extradition with Joe Lauria and Chris Hedges — YouTube — Feb 29, 2020
This election cycle is warming up to be the wildest, craziest one I’ve witnessed in my 69 years of life, yet how many times have you heard the words “Julian Assange” come out of any of the mouths of any of the “major” candidates for POTUS or, for that matter, any of the MSM zombies that question them? Not many; almost non-existent and, IMO, this will not change between now and the election, no matter how many people “on the outside” shout and scream and cry out for justice.
I think that the now-rather-mature and now-relatively-inexpensive internet and social media are most responsible for not only this amazing, crazy-beyond-belief political situation, but also many new changes in The Matrix, in particular, the major, major, major changes that occurred during the so-called Great Financial Crisis in ’08 and ’09.
The panicked, impulsive actions taken by Paulson and Geithner (the black cat walking by twice) “changed” the traditional whatever-you-want-to-call-it system into what is now — a worldwide laboratory experiment — an experiment being conducted by the microscopic (but astronomically wealthy) percentage of the human population known as the Elite in order to control the vast (but poor) majority of the human population often called the “bewildered herd”. This must be seen as an experiment (whose ultimate outcome is unknown, even to the Elite conducting it) that is almost exactly the same as B. F. Skinner’s laboratory experiments with various animals in the mid-20th century. Again, today’s experiment is taking place in a laboratory called Mother Earth. ONLY the size of the experiments are different. The variables that the experimenters control/own and, therefore, can manipulate (provide or deny) — food, water, the comfort of parents, a warm place to sleep, the opportunity for orgasm, “money” (“tokens”) that can be used to acquire the aforementioned — are exactly the same.
In 2016, Lord Jacob Rothschild bluntly described the change that occurred eight years earlier:
“The six months under review have seen central bankers continuing what is surely the greatest experiment in monetary policy in the history of the world.”
Somebody should have asked Rothschild just exactly WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE of this great experiment. But, once again with feeling, there can be only ONE answer. To MAINTAIN the present whatever-you-want-to-call-it “system” in which a microscopic percentage, an Elite, of the population owns or controls the vast majority of wealth and large-scale capital equipment for their own astronomical profit. It is an ancient, increasingly explosive economic system that is still operating today. The population/climate catastrophes, the perpetual war catastrophes and the incessant, inevitable, predictable, financial catastrophes are all part of an all-encompassing “ball-of-wax” that has that ultimately-fatal, completely man-made “system” as its core.
That change in The Matrix 12 years ago was a major, ultimately fatal one. That change was/is completely responsible for the resulting; prefectly predictable, behavior of human beings with respect to the stock and housing markets and stock buy-backs, for example, as well as the increasingly desperate and hostile behavior of the human beings who command (by a literally infinite supply of “money”) the behavior of other human beings in the military industrial complex. The US national debt in 2008 was just over $10 trillion. Now, only 12 years later, it’s over $23 trillion and rising at an accellerating rate. What was the debt piled up in those 12 years “invested” in? War and jobs in the war industry. (Great investment for the future, don’t you think?)
The perpetual-growth/war-based economic system (that, BTW, we did NOT choose to be born into) is today behaving like a spinning top that is slowing down and beginning to wobble and gyrate close to collapse. The one and only thing that can keep this system “upright” is to get it spinning faster by wild growth in the human population and more and more, ever-more-expensive, profit-generating wars — wars that Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning, Ed Snowden, Bill Binney, Caitlin and Tim Johnstone, Joe Lauria, Max Blumenthal, Ben Norton, Brian Becker, John Kiriakou, the two Alex’s, Noam Chomsky and many others are trying desperately to stop; which is EXACTLY why THEY must be “stopped” by the microscopic Elite who are willing to do literally anything to remain the microscopic Elite. This Elite is the equivalent of a 100% fatal coronavirus infecting humanity.
This “system” will INEVITABLY lead to human extinction. Even though they may not realize it, the outcome of the Elite oligarchs behavior in their experiment will be to reach that inevitability as soon as possible.
Unfortunately or fortunately, the present reality is that politicians are selected by voters every two or four years. None of these politicians are going to change absolutely anything about the election system or rules of campaign financing (bribery). Therefore, to free Assange, stop the MIC and change the US’s war-based economy, antiwar candidates who will free Assange must SOMEHOW, SOME WAY get elected by the bewildered herd WITHIN that very same system. Yes, it is that simple. If that does not happen, those candidates NOT elected, the US is doomed to suffer financial or nuclear destruction.
Furthermore, if the US cannot develop an economic system that does not absolutely depend upon perpetual population/economic growth, humanity will certainly suffer an environmental disaster. IMO, designing and implementing such an alternative economic system will be far more difficult than getting an antiwar POTUS and congress people elected, which is really saying something about difficulty. When people cannot even agree upon the meanings of words as a vitally necessary first step in ANY endeavor, this may simply be a bridge too far for the supposedly most intelligent species on the planet. (Of course we’d have to all agree upon the meaning of the word “intelligent” in order to state that humans are indeed the most intelligent species on planet earth. Ironically, by attempting to come to such agreement, say right here, right now, we’d almost certainly end up proving that that first step may very well be impossible.)
” Governments ” are controlled by ” inhuman humans ” that are without any souls at all. No depth of atrocity is ever beyond them. Killing one human or killings millions of human beings means absolutely nothing to them. These are the people in charge. They are the owners and the masters of our species; they would rather wipe out ” all ordinary people ” then ever be bothered with any of our ” problems “. To them ” we ” must be kept in our ” place ” or done away with completely. Governments are extremely evil monsters without sanity, rhyme or reason; sane people have ethics, morals, a sense of right and wrong and all of these things hamper decent people from ever prevailing over any government or governmental action. Every once in a while a government may bend a little over ” public opinion ” but it never breaks and it will always seek revenge.
This is certainly what has developed, but, in the beginning, it wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Preamble to America’s Declaration of Independence is arguably the most succinct and elegant expression of the highest principles of the Enlightenment–that all of us human beings are created equal; that all of us have inherent rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that government is our self-created instrument to ensure our equality by securing these rights; and that when a particular government fails to do this, it is our right to alter or abolish it and create a new government that does. So, yes, let us utterly reject the actuality of existing government, but, at the same time, commit ourselves even more deeply to the genuine democratic ideal, beautifully articulated in the Preamble but yet to be realized–to come even close to being realized–in America or anywhere else.
People who ” go by the book ” are shunned and avoided because they can not be bent by manipulation. A police officer that will not take money is a danger to all that do take money ” under the table “. Politicians bend or discard all of the rules to benefit friends and family. This is what human beings do; it is a part of their nature. No matter what laws are put in or on the books and no matter what ” any constitution says ” human nature will always find a way to ignore it. Completely uncorruptable human beings exist but they are never in charge of anything.
It’s the ultimate paradox Ron: Completely incorruptible human beings would have no desire to be in charge of anything.
I personally would never enter politics because the temptation to do things MY way would be too great.
It turns out that the very best ” human leaders ” are the people that do not want the job. In grammer school I read about a tribe of people that ” drafted their leaders ” because they were the best available. Maybe we can draft Ms Johnstone to lead this planet.
That would be a definite improvement!
I don’t understand why the Australian government and the MPs not lifting a finger to get their citizen Julian Assange back home. Perhaps PM Scott Morrison should ask Boris Johnson and President Donald Trump to let him go because he isn’t guilty of anything. His “crime” was the publication of heinous US war crimes in Iraq. When Assange published the Clinton and Podesta emails, then-candidate Donald Trump praised him and called for more of the same.
Caitlin Johnstone is entirely right to confront the slanderer. This now time to forget the bits and bobs and play hardball. The fundamental question, which everybody has to answer is. “Should journalists be jailed for exposing US war crimes? Yes or no?” Of course, NO. All serious journalist should be interested in the show trial before a British kangaroo court. Way off the mark! None of the slanderers from the Guardian, BBC, who name a few, showed up. Their owners already discipline them.
When the obscure “judge,” Vanessa Baraister, will hand down her sentence for extradition, it will be the death knell for Assange. In the US, he has to stand before a secret court. So far, this Deep State court has never acquitted anybody.
It’s a pity that the media whores from the fawning press show no interest in the case; finally, they will be affected in the long run. The civil society should raise hell in their countries to mobilize the public and parliamentarians for this political prisoner who, as a journalist, has only done his job. In the end, it’s a question of humanity.
All top politicians of all governments are corrupt
Just look at the disgusting smirk on Scott Morrison’s face and you will have your answer Ludwig.
The lackeys who smeared Assange reckon they can lie low now. It’s more than retreating into their hidey holes Caitlin. It’s also that they reckon the job’s done. Their whipping dog has been given a bad name. It’s a bit like the situation in the UK before and after the 12 December election. Before 12 December all we heard from the MSM was stuff about the so-called anti-Semitism in Corbyn’s Labour party. But notice that since the manufactured landslide there hasn’t been a whimper about that particular hobbyhorse.
The Assange case reminds me of a lecture Chomsky gave where he said that America had won the Viet Nam War. Or, they achieved their goal which was to terrify other budding nationalist nations that rejected American neo-colonialism. Similarly, the terrifying message has been sent to journalists who are thinking about significantly defying the State: you will eventually be released from custody, but only after your life has been so brutalized that you might wish you had devoted yourself writing celebrity puff pieces.
Yes Julian Chomsky was correct, not many countries have been able to stand up to the Americans since then. As a side note, I would like to suggest that whenever that particular war is mentioned it should be called “The American war on Viet Nam” Maybe to Americans it was “The Viet Nam war” but to the rest of the world it was American terrorism.
What if Julian dies of n-CoV-2019? It’s a real possibility in his weakened state, in a prison, not in solitary, and an easy target for this anonymous hit.
Right now, picture the UK and US as being about where China was around 1/1/20 and extrapolate viral progression.
The US undoubtedly also has this virus. China snuck it from the Canadian lab about a year ago.
Would there be any hesitancy to sacrifice the Belmarsh innmates?
In what world will we live 2 months hence?
I think it is time to recast ALL of our thoughts into a different future world, which is now beginning with the shock of global pandemic. Here is the last time I took that long view, but it has been the same view since Limits To Growth in 1972. Those computer projections are holding remarkably true.
http://www.johndayblog.com/2017/09/worse-than-i-think.html
you are right, but unfortunately I do not believe this will be successfull, because people of our governements will say and already do : well, it is about law, and this special US law, and as GB is a state of law and a democratic country the trial will be accordig to law, etc, etc.
Propagandists do not care about truth, except insofar as some of it is useful to flavor the stories they are promoting. When it’s not it’s erased.
Yesterday atbthe candles for Assange vigil on Trafalgar square i asked people if they were for pressfreedom and pointed out that if they were they should support Assange because they go hand in hand.
Some people even said no and i asked them so you are for dictatorships and fascism? You could see the uneasyness on their faces when they were called out and confronted by their own answers. I hope they will get a wake up call.
This may not be clear, but If these swine do succeed in extraditing Julian Assange, then Wikileaks must, as its highest duty, release all the information it holds on US ruling class crimes around the globe un-redacted — expose each and every CIA, NSA, FBI, etc, ‘asset’ that Wikileaks has redacted. Names, addresses — dox the fucking lot of them. It needs to be made crystal clear that the worthless lives of the hired finks, thugs and assassins of the US ruling class will really, properly and in all haste be exposed for this attempted murder of Assange.
Which Wikileaks should have done in the first place. The US Sociopaths In Charge and their agents have demonstrated they have no moral or ethical restraint, and so deserve no protection of secrecy regarding any act. There are no innocents involved. They are all guilty, and deserve whatever retribution is visited upon them by their victims.
Above all, this question should be put to every Australian MP.
Pre-elections various organisations mail questionnaires on topical issues to every candidate and publish the results. I hope an organisation with some clout can do this.
I’ve read several pundits who believe that if Morrison told Trump/Johnson that Australia wants Julian freed it would happen. But Morrison won’t make that demand unless he feels the heat of public pressure big-time. The least all of us Australians can do is email our MPs.
I have emailed my local federal MP (Russell Broadbent) twice about Julian Assange and received no answer. I have emailed him once about telecommunications and received an immediate reply.
Should journalists be jailed for exposing crime? Yes or no?
Should foreign journalists be jailed for exposing crime? Yes or no?
“Should journalists be jailed for exposing US government crime? Yes or no?”
Should foreign journalists be jailed for exposing US government crime? Yes or no?”
Should journalists be jailed for exposing US war crimes? Yes or no?”
Should foreign journalists be jailed for exposing US war crimes? Yes or no?”
If your answer is “no” for all of the above, then why is Julian Assange in prison?
Or has the First Amendment been rewritten by Russia and China regarding government. “See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil or else.”
No for everyone except those in charge then a resounding yes. Reality.
Brilliant as ever Caitlin.The time to stand up is now and declare which side you are on.This is Britain’s ‘Drefus moment’.Now is the time to decide what kind of Society you want to live in.
What’s another way of describing war crimes that doesn’t imply a definitive judgement of the US’ actions as war crimes? The reason I ask is that one obvious way the establishment can counter Caitlin’s question is to deny that they are actually crimes – as such, because they haven’t been ‘judged’ by a court. A technicality, of course, but nevertheless it gives them wriggle room to avoid answering.
I’m thinking something along the lines of ‘Should journalists be jailed for exposing the USA’s actions that caused unnecessary and avoidable harm to people’. It isn’t quite as direct or eloquent, but in my view reduces the amount of wriggle room the establishment would have to get out of answering it.
They are not going to answer it at all. Instead, they will imprison, torture, and kill anyone who has the temerity to ask such questions.
There is, unfortunately, absolutely no way to stop the US government from doing anything it wants to Assange. He is sadly already a dead man walking. The US will torture and eventually kill him, as they have so many others. Asking the questions you suggest we ask will only serve to put more people in their crosshairs.
Or lock him up and throw away the key. Probably in the basement of some ultrasecret prison below an innocuous looking building in DC.
This is exactly the sort of nihilistic-fatalistic crap that gets people killed. THEY CAN”T IMPRISON ALL OF US.
THERE ARE MORE OF US THAN OF THEM.
FREE ASSANGE.
ASK THE QUESTION!
Yeas they can. Build more prisons for you and create jobs for the rest.
Another question is ; How can we allow USA to have any jurisdiction outside its borders ?
Australia is responsable for its citizens and should protect them from
foreigners kidnapping their citizens.
Australia has abdicated its responsibilities. Australia is not going to stop the US from doing anything, ever.
In trying to discourage people from fighting back you are on the side of the war criminals and their servants. Is that what you want?
If you cannot be the bully then being his lackey is the next best thing.
Well you’re the proof of that. Now FO and find some other boots to lick.
There is a slightly more direct form of your question. One which is implied, but not actually stated.
“Do you support war crimes?” Yes or No. On the record please.
It is of course obvious that the only people who would oppose a journalist exposing war crimes are the people who are in favor of committing war crimes. If you oppose war crimes, then you support journalists being able to report on them. You hope and possibly pray that by having a journalist expose the war crimes that perhaps, just maybe, we might get some day to live in a world without war crimes.
If you believe that you should just machine gun them all down and stick a bayonet into the baby and wave it around like a trophy, then it of course follows that you oppose letting those pesky journalists run around and report about war crimes.
Do you support war crimes? Yes or No
Do you support war crimes? Yes or No.
Can you please speak up? The whole world is watching and would like to know your answer.
Unfortunately, conscious of it or not, it seems clear that most people in the west believe their countries, their governments, and hence they, are on the good side and the evil terrorists (or Russians/Chinese etc) are on the bad side. And as such, on a deeper level they support whatever their governments or intelligence agencies do, whether legal or not, whether ethical or not. Alerting people to the fact that we and our rulers are in fact the bad guys, making them see this truth seems prudent, but in my experience, even people of above average intelligence are completely hoodwinked or brainwashed…cognitive dissonance is a massive hurdle. So much easier to believe we are free and the evil terrorists (muslims) hate us for our freedom.
Side note, I find it particularly frustrating talking to ostensibly intelligent and non mainstream people who refuse to even look at alternate perspectives and instead swallow anything Maddow et al say. Other than fear, what’s their excuse?
Ms. Johnstone is absolutely correct here, yet again!
Related topic: say yes to humanity, and no to coercive governments!
Ms Johnstone as always I admire your writing and your efforts but ” humanity ” is scared stiff of ” governments ” the world over. The rule of law, even basic decency, has been stored somewhere in a maze of fear and dread unreachable by mere mortals. The United States government has many plans for Mr. Julian Assange and none of those plans are ” nice “. They are going to make an example out of him as well as make him say or do as they please. Ordinary people, even in massive numbers, are no match for soldiers, tanks, and automatic weapons. There is no court of law anywhere on this planet where Mr. Julian Assange is not going to be railroaded.
It is all hopeless. Just go home. Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along. Resistance is futile. There is no alternative. You must submit to the Borg. There is no alternative. Resistance is futile.
—————-
Every successful revolutionary in history has heard those words …… and ignored them.
You sound like a complete defeatist. We must struggle and fight. How do you think any societal advances were ever made? They always had to be fought for. There is never going to be a time when that fight ends until the evil system that perpetuates it is dead.
Even if the extradition efforts stopped right now, most of the damage has been done. The USA has already succeeded in striking fear into the hearts of journalists around the world. The deterrent is already in place, armed and ready! None of them will want to be persecuted the way Assange has been.
Caitlin, Would you please review and outline this case for us? It’s in your mind in an indelible sort of way; even though I feel a strong likelihood that we’ve facing a huge travesty, please do all of us all this favor. I would like to support you and post your words to my FB friends, but I would like to be able to respond critically to every response. There is no freedom greater than the freedom of the press, if we are to survive as free men.
Here is a review.
https://www.rt.com/shows/on-contact/481994-joe-lauria-assange-extradition/
Horace T Bone wrote:
> Caitlin, Would you please review and outline this case for us? . . . I would like to be able to respond critically to every response.
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The main resource to answer frequently asked questions is:
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Debunking All The Assange Smears — Caitlin Johnstone
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/04/20/debunking-all-the-assange-smears/
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See also Caitlin’s many Julian Assange articles:
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Topic: Assange — Caitlin Johnstone
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/tag/assange/
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A former British Ambassador, Craig Murray, has been in the courtroom during the most important Assange hearings. His stunning accounts are a must read:
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Topic: Assange — Craig Murray
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/?s=Assange
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And here are the WikiLeaks’ reports:
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News Archives – Defend WikiLeaks
https://defend.wikileaks.org/category/news/