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© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.European police on alert for Wikileaks founder
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tkoind2
Repeat after me "Revenge". "Revenge"
I am surprised he hasn't shown up in a ditch somewhere given the thugs and criminals he has upset. But time will tell. I hope he can survive this in one piece.
Frungy
And why aren't people screaming bloody murder over such obvious and blatant censorship? Wikileaks is basically a free newspaper, and is clearly protected free speech.
As for the denial of service attacks, I wouldn't be surprised if it was China doing it. Ironically enough the scope of China's cyber-terrorism operations was, to me, a key revelation in the Wikileaks and they're probably pissed off about it.
hottomales
I have no idea if the charges are genuine, personal vendettas from the women for something else, or bogus spy stuff, but I do know they will be used to the hilt for his leaking of data no matter the origin.
Its rather bizarre to me that some people are supportive of their government lying to them and violating all trust, even among allies, and act like Assange is the bad guy. This not some town gossip exposing a cheating husband, a brand of snitch I rue. What this is a guy and his org exposing activities that left unchecked could have lead to loss of life so that some governmental types could have their power trips and treasure hoards. I suppose it all seems worlds away until you realize that your son as been packed off to a war that did not need to be, a war made possible because your government felt no shame in hiding so much truth from you.
mikehuntez
The Rapist can run but he can't hide. Commit espionage and take your chances.
TimRussert
Why do Assange's fanboys here believe Sweden wants revenge?
Sweden's name was not besmirched in the WikiLeaks.
Julian Assange is charged with rape, as defined by a nation whose laws on the matter have been perverted by political correctness.
Otherwise, Assange is the kind of guy the Swedes love - a "pacifist" who dutifully plays the part of the idealistic, modern metrosexual Lefty, all about Peace! and Social Justice!, but most importantly he is "international" in his outlook, and virulently anti-empire,which is to say blindly anti-American.
hottomales
They don't. Sweden is a country. The country of Sweden is not after him. Neither is the government. Individuals are. Even most of the police of Sweden have no interest in the case. Even most Interpol officers will have only a passing interest to stay on alert. Most of this is individuals going through channels, from the rape accusers on up.
bigmouth
Assange is my Hero.Now he is wanted for publicizing the truth abt the covert,demeaning and hypocritic acts of the USA. Look at how that woman,what do u call her?Clnton commited espoinage.Instead of arresting her,America is going after Assange.
America the afthermath of his arrest will be great.His team will leak all the Banking corrupt info of Goldman Sachs etc n we will enter another economic reccession and in the ndst of that america will fall.
Leave Assang alone...
bigmouth
Mikehunterz.. Clinton is the one who has committed espoinage and shd be arrested.Assange is just a journalist providing the truth abt her activities. It seems your nationalism has blinded ur reasoning
mikehuntez
bigmouth, I am not a nationalist. I just think that it's funny the liberals all want to support this guy for releasing info that is classified. I don't have delusions of government conspiracies like the liberal left do. I do think that diplomatic communications should remain secret however and if you knowingly leak classified information you are guilty of something. Espionage would seem close enough for me but more accurately Subversion would be the charge I guess. Seems your liberal conspiracy theorist ways has blinded your reasoning.
MrDog
I don't support Assange's decision to release classified information regarding national security, but I do think this is all just a way for people to get him.
I'm suprised that he hasn't had a "heart attack", you know, the kind where blood pressure gets so high that it leaves holes in the head.
timtak
Who was the other woman?
One of the two women was the woman that organised the meeting that Assange was visiting.
He also had sex with another lady.
As a result of having consensual sex with the second woman, Assange then become guilty of molestation vis a vis his relationship with the former (conference organising) woman, I believe. I.e. Sweden seems to have an anti-two-timing-cad law in that, if one has covert sexual relations with two women, then one or both of them can accuse you of molesting them, since 'the cad' misrepresented his intentions, and tricked the women into bed. Am I understanding this correctly?
bigmouth
mikehuntez... so what are journalist for?If they cant reveal covert operations,even if deadly and unacceptable,what world are we forging to? He did not steal ur documents .He is a journalist and has the right to publish info that is in the interest of the public.
Taking diplomats DNA, photos of the family of foreign govt officials is in my view ,unacceptable.
mikehuntez
Journalist are for reporting. But when reporting there is some level of responsibility they should exercise. If reporting classified information then they are guilty of subversion or espionage. It's like when the police don't want to release info while still investigating a crime so as not to compromise the integrity of the investigation. If you leak the info you should be charged.
Yes they are not my documents but if they were I'd be pretty unhappy with him divulging my personal information. Aren't all the liberals on JT up in arms over the airlines using no-fly lists with personal information? Is there a double standard in the liberal world or what?
Like you said. That is in YOUR view. Not the Government's view. If they catch him then he deserves prosecution after he answers for what Sweden wants him for.
Smythe
When part owner of several m/c shops to also one sport shop NEVER would I admit that sales have not been great for the past month or so. That was secret info only knowen to us owners. So this thing reminds me of being tight lipped when soneone even asked.
pointofview
mikehuntez said,
Journalist are for reporting. But when reporting there is some level of responsibility they should exercise. If reporting classified information then they are guilty of subversion or espionage.
You would think that if the classified information was a result of corruption behind the seens it wouldnt be illegal. Corruption however is illegal and thats why they want to cover their butts.
bigmouth
From your submission,we live in 2 worlds.the secret and the open.however,decisions made by the secret side affects my life especially when they are unacceptable. I am entitled to have access to those decisions that affect my life.so if u sont want me to read it ,then keep it safe. Assange did not steal it.He is not in the secret sid eodf the world,so I am happy we have got hold of it .so I can at least see what my governments do that are bad. So we can hold them accountable. Anyway,this is just the tip of the iceberg,the real shock will come when he is arrested. Cos,it is going to be deadly.
bobbafett
This reeks of a set up probably bough and paid for by the US banks that Assange is going after. Once Sweden detains him then the US will try and expedite him. He is better off making a run for Ecuador. US banks have killed off Presidents to keep their debt based money system.
It stands to reason that they could pay off some high end courtesans to get Assange where they can reach him. They cannot kill him least he become a Martyr but can attack his character and bully Sweden into handing him over to the CIA.
It appears someone leaked data that Assange cannot control his libido.
Frungy
So basically what you're saying mikehuntez is that the government declaring something "classified" (a process which is without any public oversight) means that no-one can report on it? It's censorship by another name.
That's ridiculous. The South African government tried the same argument back during Apartheid, declaring all the operations in the townships as "matters of national security, and therefore classified". Every newspaper in the country included a blank space on their front page in protest, some with a little explanation that this blank space was where they would have reported on "classified" matters, but couldn't because it would endanger the lives of their reporters.
Oh, plus of course the minor legal snag that the constitution supercedes all other legal considerations (apart from common law where there is sometimes an akward tie) and the constitution guarantees freedom of speech. The U.S. government must either grow some political balls and pass a constitutional amendment that explicitly restricts the right of free speech in cases where the government deems it a matter of national security (which they would never do because it would be political suicide), OR man up and realise that they've been caught on candid camera.
Of course the only outcome of this entire thing in the long-run is that access to this sort of information is going to be more tightly restricted and safe-guarded. I have no illusions that this is in any way going to result in any meaningful reform.
mikehuntez
That thinking didn't work for the Greenpeace guys in Japan who thought that because they believe the whaling was wrong that they would be innocent for stealing from a courier company. Didn't work out for them.
Frungy it's not me you have to convince. Try convincing the US government. I'm sure they disagree with you. If information the government had on you like all your personal information were made public by Assagne would you be so good with that?
TimRussert
Hotamales said
How exciting! It is all done with channels in this day and age? Who, exactly, is using these channels? You must know, or else you would not have posted such an intriguing theory,right?
bobbafett
This from Assanges Lawyer. "We are also investigating whether the prosecutor's application to have Mr Assange held incommunicado without access to lawyers, visitors or other prisoners -- again a unique request -- is in any way linked to this matter (the WikiLeaks data release) and the recent, rather bellicose US statements of an intention to prosecute Mr Assange."
goddog
Maybe his where abouts will come out in a Wikileak! Now wouldn`t that be precious!
roomtemperature
Prosecute him? That's really what they want? Tom Flanagan, the personal adviser of Canadian premier Stephen Harper, already said openly that Assange should be taken out. Taken out!!! The Canadian government openly speaks about murdering someone!!
TimRussert
Exciting!
"Julian Assange - Man of Mystery."
It is like a movie! Oh, this will definitely give our boy Assange a leg up in competition for Time Magazine's Person of the Year. From what I gather after perusing progressive websites cheering him on, his only rival in the whole world is none other than Lady Gaga, Herself.
It was only weeks ago that Gaga appeared live on TV wearing a dress made from raw meat, which the cultural Left hailed as being like, the definition of uber-ironic, and totally transgressive, or something. She was thought to be a shoe-in after that. After all, how would the stupid Middle Class, object of Time's unceasing pillory, ever recover from such biting (no pun intended) sarcasm - and done in the flesh, to boot!
But Julian, this guy is the real deal. He is so all about "fighting empire."
SuperLib
There's obviously a line, and the debate is about where the line should be, not whether it exists or not. Obviously things like state secrets should be allowed in order for the state to function. I'm sure you can agree with that. But there's also a line where the ability to classify documents might get abused. That's where I'll agree with you.
But blindly posting 250,000 documents doesn't respect that basic premise. Are your rights being violated because you couldn't read a Spanish letter saying that the Russians are involved with the mafia? How was the Constitution trampled on by withholding someone's personal opinion that Prince Charles isn't respected as much as the Queen?
This isn't just about freedom of speech, as some would like to make it appear to be. Some of the documents are legitimate. Some are purely meant to embarrass and make life more difficult for those governments. That's where a revenge/bitterness motivation comes into play and it should be part of the discussion.
trulymadlyfukai
I ask again, why didn't this guy go after the Russian, Chinese, North Korean, Iranian governments? Oh yeah , that's right - he's a smug liberal anti-American who knows full well what would happen if he leaked those countries documents. typical liberal hater...
bigmouth
Timrussert- Anything that will bring down that Poke-nosing empire will make a lot of peple happy.
Trulymadlyfukai- Assange is not afraid and I bet he will publish secrets of those countries if he gets tham.
The real showdown will be after he is caught.He certanly has a back up plan.What if he leaks it to Aljazeera? So stop hunting this guy,instead give him the Noble Peace price for doing such service to humanity.
roomtemperature
He already has a back-up plan in case he gets caught. He held behind very aggravating documents that are secured with a password. The moment he gets caught, those documents will be disclosed automatically.
bobbafett
There is plenty of dirt on all the countries you have mentioned.
tigris
Just saw this in the UK news. Seems they are no hurry to arrest him:
The Independent has learnt that Scotland Yard has been in contact with his legal team for more than a month but is waiting for further instruction before arresting him. [...] Police sources confirmed that they have a telephone number for Mr Assange and are fully aware of where he is staying.
TimRussert
Agreed. Assange's fans - or maybe I should say fans of what Assange has done - like to prattle about transparency and some abstract need to be truly democratic but a point has been crossed where you have to ask - how does actively undermining democratic countries like America - far from perfect though she is - benefit those nations who are between say the US and truly illiberal nations like Venezuela or Iran or neighbor to a volatile failed state like Somalia. How do you help Columbia, for example, by crapping on the US, destabilizing voluntary, mutually beneficial alliances decades in the making, and selectively exempting Venezuela from your "dump" ? What is the criteria? Does the traditional consideration of counterbalance even enter the picture, in the minds of people like Assange, who hide behind the protestation that they do it for "the common good", that they have personally "gone beyond nationalism" etc ?
Bigmouth is a good example of an Assange fanboy who is blinded by anti-Americanism
"What if he leaks it to Aljazeera? So stop hunting this guy,instead give him the Noble [ Nobel ? ] Peace price for doing such service to humanity."
It would be no leak. It would be a deliberate violation, a provocation, a betrayal. If he has read what I believe State Dept docs say about Al Jazeera and its active role in global jihad there could be no mistaking which side he and his "progressive" Lefty pals are on...
Assange has deliberately undermined the efforts of the US politician that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Committee bestowed that honor upon.
hottomales
"Go after?" I think he gets information from where he can. But since the U.S. has a global empire and military expeditures that both dwarf the nations you mentioned put together, and since the U.S. has been involved in more wars and successful plots to overthrow more governments in the last 50 years than all combined as well, resulting in much loss of life, I hardly understand this whine you offer that seems entirely made from sour grapes.
hottomales
You are asking the wrong questions, so you are getting the wrong answers. The question is, what right does the government have to withold such information from us? If we let that go, we can rest assured we the people never get any respect. And that road leads to being cannon fodder. It should have been the people of the U.S. to tear this den of secrecy open. Instead its some Aussie, and you know darn well more despicable cover-ups and lies are out there.
I am not saying the U.S. gov needs to set up a web page where every Tom, Dick and Harry can see the dirty laundry. But at least the information should be available to people interested enough to go looking for it. No one should have to risk job or freedom just to find out such mundane things our government is doing. Since the American people are too chicken, let the Aussie do their jobs for them.
apecNetworks
So far, Assange has not topped Daniel Ellsberg and the release of the Pentagon Papers, nor the findings of the Sen.Church Investigations - that changed history in the Asia Pacific. It still remains to be seen if Assange has earth shaking info up his sleeve.
He seems like a sharp guy, so he probably has a disclosure method like shown in the book, "Shibumi". Nicholas Hel would have a trigger placed on the info, and if he did not contact the messenger, the info would be released. Thus, the info may be released even if Assange meets his arrest.
jruaustralia
I don't think you can defend Julian ASSANGE on the basis everything he did was for the common good (freedom of speech? liberal democracy?).
I don't think it was for the common good to embarrass people (their careers), endanger Coalition soldiers now fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, jeopardize Afghan (and Iraqi) civilians working with the Coalition forces, and sow confusion by these selective release of confidential documents within the Free World.
jruaustralia
There'd be no major foreign policy shifts as a result of Wikileaks. But it'll be consequential, especially to the mandarins of CLINTON's State Dep't.
BUT TO ECHO Sec. GATES on the subj. It's embarrassing, it is awkward but consequences for U.S. foreign policy will be fairly modest as a result.
maxtheitpro
I nominate Julian Assange for Nobel Peace Prize and Time Man Of The Year award. He is a HERO and should be commended for his service in EXPOSING corrupt government activities around the world. Can't wait for the banking stuff...HEADS REALLY NEED TO ROLL FOR THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL MELTDOWN.
seaforte03
Rogue hero, persecuted for revealing the truth - the USA, our government of the people, for the people, by the people - the alleged protector of truth, freedom, and liberty is trying to squash this guy like a bug. What kind of people are we becoming? The truth has already been released - deal with it like an adult. So it' embarrassing - it's the truth. Are we led by such incredible incompetent inflexible morons that we cannot adapt to change and obstacles?
And for the record - the USA gov spokesperson says this: "The White House said his statements “are both ridiculous and absurd” and U.S. diplomats do not engage in spying."? What a load of bull - made me want to dry heave blood. The WH just issued a self deprecating statement accusing itself of the ridiculous and absurd.
Second the Time Man of the Year award - and this alleged rape crap - true or not - there is not formal charge - just an inquiry - so now even Sweden is playing USA yippy dog. That one man (and his crew) could stir up such a global frenzy of hate is extremely curious...although we haven't heard the Taliban's take on this yet....
mikehuntez
I don't think he exposed corruption. He exposed diplomatic cables of diplomat's frank opinions of countries the US has relations with. That is all. I don't know why you think it's a major revelation of Corruption. No money was involved. Only opinions. While embarrassing to the US this is not going to make the government fall. But thanks for your attempt to make it into something illegal.