The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange languishes in a British jail tonight. He is being denied bail despite offers of surety from Jemima Khan, Ken Loach and John Pilger

I have been out most of the day and was thinking of what light weight pre Christmas fare I could offer the readers of the Raccoon, trudging round John Lewis for the Nth time my blackberry pinged off the above message from Channel 4 News.

The heavy hand of the US State department is all over this, you can smell the rotting flesh. When the good ol’ boys start shouting for Liberty a la Ms Palin, it is not for the likes of you and me non Americans, freedom for all stops at the US border. The rest of us are merely chess pieces.

Europe, Africa and South America was the potential battle ground in the cold war, not the Bering Sea. Africa I have seen for my own eyes the devastation and waste of the ‘cold war’. Pax Americana relied on bankrolling and supplying any tinpot dictator as long as he could demonstrate that he was not a ‘commie’.

9/11 had the desired effect, it wounded the United States spiritually. Americans no longer felt safe on Main Street, previously this protection had been provided by the expanse of the Atlantic and Pacific. Coupled with a ‘big government’ that on the security front leaked like a sieve.

Much of the Wikileaks material is not life threatening, it is just embarrassing to a monolith that likes to operate in dark corners.

I do not know much of the detail about the alleged swedish rape case, but Assange has stated he is innocent, therefore until tried by a Court he remains innocent.

My fear is that the extradition to Sweden is a cover for a covert extradition to the States, where senior politicians have been frothing at the mouth about making a ‘hit’ on Assange. Clearly in the light of the lynch mob mentality in the States, he is not guaranteed a fair trial.

This man is clearly not a flight risk, as his face is on every screen across the world.

It is now time to choose your sides, big Government or Liberty, the Government fearing the People or People fearing the Government. In Libertarian cirles it is called the ‘endarkening’.

1
Joe Public
December 7, 2010 at 20:58

It’s ironic that Federal Employees are forbidden to read the ‘Leaks’ even on their own personal computers. So they cannot arrive at a personal, independent judgement.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/12/03/wikileaks.access.warning/index.html?iref=allsearch

2
berenike
December 7, 2010 at 21:11

Funny. In Catholic circles, the Endarkenment was about 300 years ago. Yours are a bit behind the times …

3
Richard Manns
December 7, 2010 at 21:13

Not a flight risk?

You should have told the Swedish that when they tried to arrest him the first time. Surely leaving the country following accusations of rape and sexual assault is a prima facie case for not allowing bail once actually caught?

Perhaps the Americans have tried to make damn sure he wasn’t bailed (and I bet they did), but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t perfectly valid reasons not to bail him.

4
nightlurker
December 8, 2010 at 09:25

When the charges against Assange were first made they were investigated by the prosecutor of that area of Sweden, (I think it was Stockholm) with his cooperation, and was found that there was no case to answer. He then left the country as a free man. The current charges relate to the same incident but have been brought by the prosecutor in Gothenburg. He has offered to answer questions at the Swedish embassy, at a UK police station or any other location within reason but the Swedish authorities have refused this and insisted on an arrest warrant and extradition. Why go to all that trouble if it could be easily resolved at their embassy here? It would seem Sweden is only the puppet in this with the US pulling the strings. I bet when he gets there they will say he has no case to answer but ther will be an extradition waiting to the US. Only time will tell if I’m right.

5
@A2Mac
December 7, 2010 at 21:22

Govnernment Propoganda Media News Headlines:

In a joint statement read out by Hilary Clinton at the White House Paypal, Mastercard, VISA, CIA, FBI, NSA, UK Governments, Swedish Judges, Sweedish Prosecutors, EveryDNS, Amazon, Interpol, The MET, Home Office & the Swiz banks all denied there is a conspiracy against Julian Assange.

They confirmed that it is all perfectly normal for a worldwide manhunt to be initiated whenever a Condom breaks during sex in Sweden. That Julian Assange is being detained as they are worried about his mental health and that he is being flown to the USA to receive the best treatment available at a state of the art medical centre in Cuba called St. Gitmo

In other news: Murderers, Real Rapists, Child Molesters, Terrorists and Liberal Democrats continue to commit crimes and the police are so busy completing important paperwork they will have to stay in the police station.

Government Ministers go back on 10 foot high written pledges and introduce legislation in total opposition to election campaign promises stating that when campaigning they had been living in a bubble in the desert and they were not aware of the dire economic conditions facing UK. It is believed they had so much expenses money to spend they had no idea the country was about £1trillion in debt.

Now the weather. Sunny, Sunny, No Snow anywhere and all the roads in Scotland are working well.

6
Woman on a Raft
December 8, 2010 at 08:33

Claps, whistles, stamps feet.

7
Old Slaughter
December 7, 2010 at 21:36

Ian Smith could demonstrate he was not a commie and the big evil US didn’t bankroll him.

Also, despite the devastation, we won the cold war, makes most of it if not all a price well worth paying. Now the commies, there was Big State.

Either way, this is not a Liberty/Big state fault line. You can believe in a minimal state and state secrets. Who said they were mutually exclusive.

America is seemingly the Great Satan to many. Not I.

8
grahams
December 8, 2010 at 17:43

You appear to on your own here but I agree with you and I would guess that many,many others do.

9
Old Slaughter
December 8, 2010 at 18:25

Thank you

10
Old Slaughter
December 7, 2010 at 21:38

Besides, when those arch supporters of huge government Pilger and Loach can agree on something I have to find myself on the other side of the fence.

11
Dioclese
December 7, 2010 at 21:40

This arrest is a very worrying development – although I would have to say not entirely unexpected.

The problem with the US is that they think they not only run the world, but have bought it as well. Whilst I in no way would condone 9/11, I begin to understand the feelings of resentment that brought it about.

One would have hoped that that would have been a wake up call for the Yanks, but unfortunately Bush was in charge so the totally inappropriate response was, I suppose, inevitable. After all, it was said that Bush only invaded Iraq because he couldn’t spell Iran.

My belief is that these charges against Mr Assange are being orchestrated by the dirty tricks department of the US government and, frankly, I don’t believe that there is anything that could dissuade me from that view…

12
Old Slaughter
December 7, 2010 at 22:00

“My belief is that these charges against Mr Assange are being orchestrated by the dirty tricks department of the US government”

Proof? I mean if he is innocent until proven otherwise, how come the US government isn’t?

“I don’t believe that there is anything that could dissuade me from that view”

And there we have it. Reason personified.

13
@A2Mac
December 7, 2010 at 21:41

Old Slaughter,

Just because someone is your friend, when it comes to the War on terror I am slightly to the Right of Bush politically, it does not mean you ignore when they fuck up.

When we live in a society where the image of politicans is more importnat than the innocence and freedom of a citizen then we would be as well in North Korea.

The military allowed Wikileaks precisely because we need to change direction of doing one thing and stating another through the mouths of our PC politicians.

We need to know who the enemies are, who our frineds are and agre what needs to be done.

14
Old Slaughter
December 7, 2010 at 22:07

I didn’t say ignore when they fuck up. Although I like to know the benefits of certain actions.
Publishing the helicopter video was fair enough. A fuck up exposed. But a list of strategic assets??? Where is the benefit of that other than to enemies of the US?

People are losing their head over this. Now the man is not only innocent until proven guilty, he will be innocent even if proven guilty. People artificially extend their knowledge to support their ideologies.

15
woodsy42
December 7, 2010 at 21:46

Assange may be saint or devil, or anywhere in between. But when governments collude to chase an individual around the world in this way, to close a website, to harrass an essentially passive organisation in such an obviously authoritarian manner and all with absolutely no regard to normal legal process then it is time to be very afraid.

16
Old Slaughter
December 7, 2010 at 22:08

Really, and what if he was an Islamist peddling nuclear secrets? Would that be wrong to close down and harass.

Also, I repeat, how do you know these charges are fabrications?

17
ivan
December 7, 2010 at 22:32

And how do you know they are not?

18
Old Slaughter
December 7, 2010 at 22:35

Are you serious? Have I called him a rapist? I have not argued with the ‘innocent until guilty’ principle.

Fairies exist. Prove they don’t.

I hope you are joking for the sake of anybody your brain is responsible for.

19
woodsy42
December 8, 2010 at 11:39

I have no idea if the charges are real or fabricated OS, but I don’t believe he is personally an active terrorist. But that isn’t my point. Governments have legal tools to deal with terrorists and murderers and should use them. I wish they would!
My point here is that the particular dirty tricks being used against Wikileaks are being applied by threat and outside pressure on other countries, financial institutions, Internet providers, companies like Amazon and the like without regard to any reasonable legal framework or legal procedures. This is being done in order to close down and ostracise what is in fact simply a high profile and highly embarrassing political opponent.
So at what point does your bank withdraw your account, Mastercard refuse to provide a service, BT remove your internet connection because you are doing something or writing material that would embarrass the authorities? Doesn’t that scare you? It certainly scares me!

20
Old Slaughter
December 8, 2010 at 15:36

A fair point. To be honest though, it does not scare me.
If you were a CEO of a major financial institution and he threatened to release documents that could shatter a major bank etc. in this climate. Something that would directly attack your bottom line, would you still provide him accounts? If he were simply a leftist political party I would agree entirely.
Thing is, I disagree that he is just a political opponent now. The leaks he is throwing out and ones he is saying he will are not only more than politically damaging (potentially) they are also obtained criminally. He has stepped in to outlaw and direct threat to safety category and I think it irresponsible not to take action.
As I have said, good leaks before, bad leaks now. I do think there is a lin and that it has been crossed. The fact Loach and Pilger are involved help confirm this!

21
woodsy42
December 9, 2010 at 20:50

If I were a CEO of an organisation and someone started publishing company secrets I would be very annoyed. I would take them to court and stop dealing with them – of course. What I would not do is use my buisness position to threaten other businesses like the local shop into not selling them food or the local garage to stop selling them petrol or bribe the local police to reopen an old charge and refuse bail – because doing that would be illegal.
Two wrongs never make a right.

22
Smoking Hot
December 7, 2010 at 22:47

Passport? tagging? offers of surety? … nope, incarceration. Bah!

23
Zaphod
December 7, 2010 at 23:32

Even the BBC, radio 4, are making no secret of their opinion, that the sex allegations arrest is a spurious excuse.
Assange is to be seriously punished for his impudence, to frighten the rest of us.
Whatever you think of Wikileaks, do not defend this witch-hunt. We will all be diminished by it.

24
Smoking Hot
December 8, 2010 at 00:16

C’mon Slaughter … you’re better than all this ‘what if’ garbage. He isn’t peddling nuclear secrets etc so why the hell bring it up?

25
Old Slaughter
December 8, 2010 at 01:44

No, but a general point was made, so I asked to test the limits of it.

One could easily argue that revealing conversations with China about North Korea or lists of strategic assets in on the same side of the ledger as nuclear secrets. Who knows what damage could be done.

Wikileaks has revealed much I am glad off. Better out than in.
My point is though that limits have been breached. If any response is out of bounds I want to know at what point responses are valid. It seems there is a trend here that states should be allowed no secrets. I think this nonsense.

26
Roue le Jour
December 8, 2010 at 05:00

If the US is going to extradite Assange from anywhere, it’ll be the UK. 2003 extradition act, remember?

27
Andrew P Withers
December 8, 2010 at 06:30

UPDATE

The US State Department are having ‘informal’ discussions with the Swedes. perhaps realising the UK is now reluctant to throw people on the tender mercies of the US Courts.

28
JimS
December 8, 2010 at 10:35

I think you are conflating two issues here.

Whether Assange is a rapist or not I know not nor do I care.

Is Wikileaks a force for liberty? It is one thing to ‘whistle blow’, it is quite another to engage in what amounts to open espionage. Wikileaks has crossed a line, a line that has nothing to do with liberty versus big state. We all have thoughts that we would like to keep to ourselves or at most share with our friends. That is liberty too.

The same applies to government big or small. Would we be better served if every negotiation, goverment or industrial relations, was made public?

Journalists aren’t freedom fighters, they write to sell stories. Wikileaks isn’t run by journalists they pathetic dealers in stolen goods, criminals not libertarians. Wikileaks has abused the liberty of the web and will be to blame when big government introduces yet more monitoring and control.

I’m all for backing the individual against the big state but not when that individual is a criminal.

29
Caedmon’s Cat
December 8, 2010 at 11:27

This is all a massive distraction, and I’m very suspicious. What are they (i.e. the Unworthy) getting up to while our attention is focused upon this? If this weren’t a decoy, the BBC and the rest of the media wouldn’t even give this the time of day…

30
david b
December 8, 2010 at 14:56

If a bunch of files is freely available to 2 1/2 million people, how can it be argued that they are not effectively in the public domain? The Economist suggests that with such a wide circulation it is likely that any interested foreign power will have had the files long ago. I would have expected the site protection to have been pretty weak to allow so many people access.

I do not have an opinion on Wikileaks. I can see the need for secrecy in lots of aspects of public and commercial life. But perhaps if freedom of information was widely practised we could be sure the state was acting in our interest and not that of the elite which holds it hostage. I never found much to interest me on the odd visits I made to the site.

Attacks on the USA or its interests don’t impress me. I have issues with some of their policy, but it can be reasonably argued that on balance they are a force for good. None of us would be sitting at cheap computers freely expressing our thoughts were it not for America and its system of commerce, or its soldiers blood in the last century. So its not all bad. What have the Romans ever done for us?

Irishmen successfully claimed asylum in the Netherlands during the 70′s. Can Mr Assange not claim asylum on the grounds that he has a legitimate fear of being further extradited to a hostile jurisdiction where his human rights may not be guaranteed? We can keep actual murderers and islamist terrorists at liberty in our country, I wonder what harm Mr Assange poses to our citizens lives or security? We have Russians, Saudis and other dissidents under our protection. Should this Australian not be protected?

And finally to the content of the leaks. I would expect governments to spy on each other, at the UN or otherwise. I have read stories over the years which were carried in newspapers about Saudi attitudes to Iran. These leaks merely confirm the rumours. I am annoyed that the Governor Of The B of E should be speaking to foreign powers – that must be grounds to dismiss him surely?. And the Zanu lot were saying one thing about Quadaffi / Magrahi while doing the opposite – thats hardly news either, is it? Politicians tell lies? Only when their lips move.

31
Ian R Thorpe
December 8, 2010 at 16:03

I really have a problem with all this “free Assange” business.
We all know that governments have to do nasty things from time to time. We can all surmise that Call me Dave and Barry O are not each other’s greatest fan. So obtaining and releasing private documents confirming that kind of thing is theft pure and simple and Assange is an accomplice.

Now as for those sensitive locations revealed this week, some of which I have visited in the past, there are staff in all of them. Each member of the staff is somebody’s daughter or son, many of them are mothers or fathers, husbands, wives, partners.

So how does it serve the cause of liberty if we pander to some self aggrandizing pulicity junkie who is prepared to put their lives at risk just to get a fix. If you can’t do the time don’t do the crime applies here.

I’ve always liked this blog because it didn’t mince words in attacking the waily-gnashy-teethy politicically correct guilt tripping of the left.

If we’re going into paroxisms of angst about Assange facing justice what would it be like if someone leaked the kind of things the governments of Russia, China, Indonesia, African nations and so many others get up to.

Get a grip everyone.

32
SadButMadLad
December 8, 2010 at 16:50

But is it theft? Look on it as if he was a journalist doing some expose. When a journalist gets confidential documents from a source the journ hasn’t committed theft. The source might have. The journalist is also protected from exposing their sources.

So is Julian Assange a journalist?

33
anon
December 8, 2010 at 17:19

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/12/07/18665978.php i wonder

34
Derek Reynolds
December 8, 2010 at 17:58

Clearly Assange has embarrassing information that certain governments would wish witheld. Much may be common knowledge, or at least suspected to be true, maybe what he is revealing is the confirmation.

Whatever some people may think of Alex Jones, he is if nothing persistent and passionate about truth and freedom. One hour and fifty two minutes, and well worth taking time out to watch:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5948263607579389947&hl=en#

The war for your mind has been waged long.

35
Old Slaughter
December 8, 2010 at 18:27

Is Jones a liar? Demonstrably yes and consistently so.

That should be enough.

36
Derek Reynolds
December 9, 2010 at 09:28

And the U.N. is a peace keeping organisation, and not seeking a One World Government?
http://sppiblog.org/news/the-abdication-of-the-west

37
Old Slaughter
December 9, 2010 at 12:07

Yawn. Have I said otherwise?

Jones is a con man. He is fundamentally dishonest. You may as well start throwing Michael Moore videos around.

38
Donavon Pfeiffer
December 8, 2010 at 21:19

“Clearly in the light of the lynch mob mentality in the States, he is not guaranteed a fair trial.”

I would have that at least you would be able to separate the US government from the US citizens.
I watched in horror as citizens and press in Europe treated candidate Obama as the World’s Candidate For US President, for I understood full well what a Chicago machine politician could do with the powers of the Presidency especially if his own party controlled both houses of Congress.
His ego inflated by the reception he got overseas, including the Nobel peace Prize, he believed and still does that he is President of the World and is treating you in the same manner he does us.
Julian Assange is merely a conduit but he is not a journalist. Journalists don’t offer to sell their info back to governments. On the other hand the one person who should be facing trial and possibly execution is a member of the United States armed forces who signed a contract allowing for such an outcome.
Yes the United States government is behind this and it is as hamfisted as everything else this administration has done. And yes politicians of every stripe ( with the exception of the Libertarian Party so far) are jumping in to grant there bona fides as patriots, but they are not the American public they are merely trying to shape its viewpoint. When Fox Business News carries an interview of Assange’s lawyer by Judge Andrew Napolitano, a classic liberal with all the distrust of government that that entails, there is a counter to the Sara Palin’s and Mike Huckabee’s of the world feeding directly to their core audience.
I resent the implication that there is a lynch mob mentality in the states. There is one within the political class most definitely, but for the rest of America there is varying opinion and people who are pissed off at the TSA recognise government overreach when they see it. And as far as a fair trial goes, what was the outcome of the case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani? The “slam dunk” we were told was inevitable? “Not Guilty” on 284 out of 285 charges.
American lawyers live to fight cases like this. And the fact that he was arrested prior to any American charges being filed won’t sit well with an American jury. Too many of us know that if we accept it being done to you, it will be done to us next.

39
Matt
December 8, 2010 at 22:03

On a practical note, how many on this thread are hosting mirrors?

If not, why not?

40
Lilith
December 9, 2010 at 09:27

Because I am not a geek and have no idea what a mirror is. Like a lot of peeps with computers.

41
ivan
December 11, 2010 at 02:19

It appears the true reason is now out for all to see.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/10/assange_indictment_soon/