Why Isn't Wikileaks' Julian Assange Behind Bars?

The story comes from Family Security Matters.

Where is the Indictment of Julian Assange?


The story we get repeatedly from the press is that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange received asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London because he fears being sent by the British to Sweden to answer sex charges and then eventually being extradited to the U.S. to answer espionage charges here.

It's true that British Foreign Minister William Hague says the country has a "legal obligation to see Mr. Assange extradited to Sweden." But there is no confirmation of a U.S. indictment of Assange.

Much of the coverage seems designed to make Assange into a martyr of some kind.

Some members of the press, however, are raising questions. The New York Times noted, "It struck many as odd that Mr. Assange, who shot to fame as a fighter for media freedom, chose Ecuador as a potential refuge. Mr. Correa has presided over a crackdown on journalists there." It is only odd if one believed the propaganda about Assange being a free speech advocate or "whistleblower" in the first place. On the contrary, he has functioned as an agent of influence for the Russian government.

There is something else odd about this case. There have been numerous reports that the Justice Department has established a secret grand jury to indict Assange under the Espionage Act. But there is no hard evidence that Attorney General Eric Holder ever intended to prosecute him. From the start, while talking tough about a criminal investigation, Holder has also talked about "gaps" in the law that may prevent prosecution.

In the case of the gay Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning, the Assange conspirator on trial for treason, the death penalty has been strangely taken off the table. The threat of the death penalty could have been used to get Manning to talk about the involvement of Assange and others in the conspiracy to steal and release classified information.

The Australian newspaper puts Assange and his political motives into some perspective in an editorial that says: "Julian Assange displays blinding hypocrisy trying to hide behind the skirts of Ecuador, which regularly aligns itself at the UN with the likes of Zimbabwe, North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela on issues such as support for Syria's murderous Assad regime."

The skirts also included those of his mother, who complained that her son had been living in cramped conditions at the embassy, under psychological stress, and had not been outside to "see the sun."

The Australian went on, "Were Mr. Assange not so cowardly, he would recognize his best interests would be served not by pompously pursuing the role of martyr but by going to Sweden so sex-assault charges he strenuously denies can be tested. Sweden is not Equatorial Guinea. Nor is it Ecuador, a country whose anti-US President, Rafael Correa, Mr. Assange's protector, shamelessly misused the courts against journalists after they called him a dictator-action condemned by the UN Human Rights Council and the Washington Post, which wrote of the ‘most comprehensive and ruthless assault on free media in the Western Hemisphere.'"

The latter suggests that even liberals in the press seem to be waking up to the true colors of Julian Assange. When will they wake up to the fact that the tough rhetoric coming out of the White House and the Justice Department is getting stale?

Some of the toughest rhetoric came from White House press secretary Robert Gibbs during a press briefing on November 29, 2010: "Obviously there is an ongoing criminal investigation about the stealing of and the dissemination of sensitive and classified information."

He went on to say, in regard to the WikiLeaks disclosures:

"...the stealing of classified information and its dissemination is a crime..."
"WikiLeaks and people that disseminate information to people like this are criminals, first and foremost. And I think that needs to be clear"

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has also talked tough. She recently said, "I believe Mr. Assange has knowingly obtained and disseminated classified information which could cause injury to the United States. He has caused serious harm to U.S. national security, and he should be prosecuted accordingly."

She sent a letter to Holder on December 2, 2010 making the same argument. Here we are 20 months later.

Isn't it about time for the media to conclude that the Obama/Holder Justice Department is bluffing and that it has no intention of going after Assange and WikiLeaks?

The Russians and other adversaries or enemies of the United States have benefitted immensely from the WikiLeaks disclosures, which included classified information about U.S. counter-terrorism efforts. In return, perhaps as a show of thanks, the Russians gave Assange a TV show, where he interviewed such figures as Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah and U.S. Marxist professor Noam Chomsky.

The Russia Today (RT) show, funded by Moscow, is broadcast into the United States but has not been required to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Holder shows the same leniency to such outlets as the Muslim Brotherhood's Al-Jazeera and Iranian Press TV.

The Russians may have balked at giving Assange sanctuary. But Assange had interviewed Ecuador's president Correa on his RT television show. The New York Times reported that "when Mr. Assange arrived at the embassy, he issued a statement saying that Mr. Correa had invited him to seek asylum in Ecuador during an interview for Mr. Assange's TV show on Russia Today, an English-language cable channel financed by the government of Vladimir V. Putin."

This means the Russian government, which not only funds but controls the channel, facilitated the deal.

The government of Ecuador is a member of the Hugo Chavez axis of nations that serves the interests of Russia, Cuba, and Iran in Latin America. Former CIA officer Brian Latell points out that the Venezuelan intelligence service functions as an arm of Cuba's intelligence service, the DGI.

At this point, even the tough rhetoric is disappearing from the official statements. CNN Reports that U.S. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd on Thursday offered "no comment on Julian Assange or the dispute over his asylum between Ecuadorian and UK authorities." This does not sound like a Justice Department eager or willing to bring Assange to justice.

The reason may be that President Obama's base, including Code Pink and other such groups, are part of the "Free Bradley Manning" coalition who also believe that Assange is a hero. Code Pink worked with and promoted CIA defector Philip Agee, an identified Cuban DGI and Soviet KGB agent.

As we have reported before, the far-left has argued that the Espionage Act, under which an indictment could be brought, is unconstitutional. This argument is coming, however, from Robert Meeropol, founder and executive director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children. His parents, atomic spies and communists Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were charged, tried and executed after being found guilty of violating the law.

The advisory board of the Rosenberg Fund includes Angela Davis, the former Communist Party USA official who beat a murder rap; former Rep. Ron Dellums, the Oakland Democrat who once served as a member of the House Intelligence Committee; communist folksinger Pete Seeger; Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights; and even Leonard Peltier, the American Indian activist now in prison for murdering two FBI agents.

This is the crowd Holder doesn't want to upset with an indictment of Assange.

Ron Paul Deep In It After Praising Traitor Bradley Manning

I don't have to tell anyone here at this blog how much I detest Ron Paul - simply put, Ron Paul is one of the most dangerous men in America and quite frankly makes some on the left appear like war mongers. If Ron Paul had his way, half of America would be a wasteland after a nuclear holocaust as Paul, as President, would then decide to loose the wooden ships with sails from his new American navy.

The fact that Ron Paul, many months ago, hailed Bradley Manning as a possible hero for leaking government and military data to Wikileaks fits him perfectly. Now, some Ron Paul supporter will happen upon this site today or tomorrow or the next and spout "but Holger, Ron Paul is a veteran of the military!" ....and he was...but what that supporter won't tell you is that Ron Paul was DRAFTED into military service. Now, many Americans were drafted into the service of our country and performed as heroes but it's pretty apparent that Ron Paul felt it was an affront to his liberties.

The fact that a man running for President of this country would stand on the side of this traitorous puke Manning is beyond me - Bradley Manning should hang from a military gallows for his action. He is a modern day Benedict Arnold. And Ron Paul saw fit to praise the action of a U.S. soldier that sold out his unit, sold out the U.S. Army and sold out his country.

You're a disgrace, Rep. Paul.

The story is from Family Security Matters.

Ron Paul Under Fire for Praising Accused Traitor


Fox News is the latest news organization to pick up on the revelation, first reported by AIM, that Ron Paul had praised WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning as a hero and patriot. Directly referring to WikiLeaks and Army soldier Bradley Manning being held in detention, Paul said, “Should he be locked up in prison or should we see him as a political hero? Maybe he is a true patriot—who reveals what’s going on in government.” The comment drew strong applause from Paul supporters.

Video of the event, officially posted by Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty organization, also shows the Republican presidential candidate, now rising or perhaps leading in the polls in Iowa, attacking the CIA and its treatment of terrorists.

Paul “let his mask of semi-respectability fall when he praised Bradley Manning, accused traitor,” wrote Washington Post “Right Turn” blogger Jennifer Rubin.

A conservative view of Manning, who had been an Army intelligence analyst in Iraq, was expressed in strong language by columnist Deroy Murdock. He said Manning “should be court-martialed for espionage and treason.” He added, “If convicted, he should be placed against a wall and executed by firing squad” He said the same goes for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, if he is extradited to stand trial here.

Manning, a homosexual Army soldier with “gender identity” problems, has just undergone a preliminary hearing which could lead to a court-martial, where evidence was produced showing his collaboration with Assange and WikiLeaks. The charges against Manning include aiding the enemy in violation of Article 104 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. However, the prosecution team has announced that it is not seeking the death penalty.

Assange is being represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and its president emeritus, Michael Ratner, who has co-authored a book in honor of communist revolutionary Che Guevara. The New York Observer reported that a party to celebrate the book’s publication was held at the Cuban Mission to the United Nations. “Guests passed by a giant portrait of Fidel and a smaller photograph of Che speaking at the United Nations on their way to check their coats,” the paper said.

The CCR, which works hand-in-glove with the National Lawyers Guild, a communist front, is fearful that Assange will be charged by a grand jury with conspiracy to commit espionage against the U.S.

Murdock and others have been critical of WikiLeaks for posting diplomatic cables detailing critical infrastructure and installations, such as pipelines, cable locations, satellite communications sites, and vaccine factories, whose loss could critically affect U.S. national security. “What a perfect target list for those who want to see ‘infidels’ sick or dead,” he wrote.

WikiLeaks also posted technical details of radio frequency-jammers used in Iraq by American soldiers to cut off signals to remotely detonated explosives and roadside bombs. The information released by WikiLeaks could help terrorists figure out better ways to bomb and kill more Americans.

The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were responsible for many of the 4,287 deaths and 30,182 injuries suffered by American soldiers in Iraq.

An estimate published by McClatchy newspapers in March of this year said that in Afghanistan alone, 617 troops had been killed and 5,752 wounded by IEDs. By this point, it said, the U.S. had spent $17 billion to find ways to disable the bombs.

The Pentagon said it had information from intelligence reports and Taliban public statements “that our enemy is accessing the WikiLeaks website for the purpose of exploiting WikiLeaks’ illegal and irresponsible actions, to pursue their own terrorist aims.”

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell had said in October 2010, “Potentially what one could mine from a huge data base like this are vulnerabilities in terms of how we operate, our tactics, our techniques, our procedures, the capabilities of our equipment, how we respond in combat situations, response times—indeed how we cultivate sources. All of that, [given the] thinking and adaptive enemy we’ve been facing in Iraq and Afghanistan, can be used against us.”

Tom Flanagan, a University of Calgary professor and prominent conservative thinker and activist in Canada, said Assange should be assassinated because of the damage done to international relations. He later said his remarks were “thoughtless” and “glib” and added, “I never seriously intended to advocate or propose the assassination of Mr. Assange. But I do think that what he’s doing is very malicious and harmful to diplomacy and endangering people’s lives, and I think it should be stopped.”

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called Assange “an active enemy combatant who is engaged in information warfare against the United States. What he is doing is going to have incalculable damage to this country. It is going to have a number of innocent people killed, a number of our allies killed. It is going to put Americans at risk and he has dramatically crippled our ability to gather intelligence because why would any foreigner share with the Americans when they know that their information might immediately show up in some kind of leaked cable. This is an act of war against the United States.”

Even Bob Beckel, a liberal personality on the Fox News Channel, has called Assange a “traitor” who should be shot.

Revelations about Ron Paul publishing racist material in his newsletters is also receiving more media attention. But Paul’s supporters in the John Birch Society, a one-time anti-communist organization, are playing down this revelation, saying that “…the newsletter controversy only demonstrates that Paul exercised poor management over employees’ statements in a relatively minor part of his career (he focused upon his medical practice during this time period), a managerial mistake he hasn’t repeated in the 15 years since he returned to Congress. It’s a genuine negative for Paul, but it’s a small negative.”

The writer of this New American article is ardent Ron Paul supporter Thomas Eddlem, who describes himself as “a life member of the John Birch Society” who “formerly served on the staff of the organization for 13 years.” He once described himself as an advocate of a “Left-Right Alliance” against the George W. Bush Administration and contributes to the left-wing progressive website, OpEdnews.com. His Facebook page lists foreign-funded channels Al-Jazeera and Russia Today (RT) as among his favorite sources of television news. The section on his activities and interests includes WikiLeaks.

His article in The New American, however, did not address the controversy over Paul praising WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning as a “hero” and “patriot.”

However, Eddlem had previously written an article for the magazine insisting that while some Americans see Manning as a traitor, “others see Manning as a whistleblower who has exposed the U.S. government’s absurd and unnecessary over-use of secrecy as well as a number of scandals.”

This seems to be the view held by Ron Paul and The New American/John Birch Society.

The New American has also published a controversial article taking issue with conservative websites such as RedState.com and TrevorLoudon.com that referred to Paul as “Al-Qaeda’s favorite member of Congress,” and highlighted Paul’s collaboration with the Moscow-funded RT channel. RT is a cover for Russian intelligence operations and serves as a mouthpiece for the Vladimir Putin regime.

The RedState article had noted the WikiLeaks disclosure of classified information about possible terrorist targets.

The collaboration with RT apparently ended when one of the channel’s hosts, American Adam Kokesh, was fired after being caught raising money for Ron Paul on the air.

It is illegal for foreign entities to interfere in U.S. political campaigns and the Federal Election Commission is currently investigating the controversy.

Swedish Prosecuter Seeks Detention of WikiLeaks' Assange On Rape Accusations

It seems that WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, isn't just in trouble with the U.S. military and our intelligence community - nope, he's up to his neck in it with a prosecutor in Sweden who says two Swedish women have come forward with charges that Assange raped and coerced them in Sweden back in August.

From the article at Breitbart:

A Swedish prosecutor requested a court order Thursday to detain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for questioning on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion.
Assange has denied the allegations, which stem from his encounters with two women during a visit to Sweden in August.

The Stockholm District Court was to rule on the request later Thursday. The move could mean that prosecutors are preparing an international arrest warrant for the Australian, whose whereabouts was not immediately clear.

"The reason for my request is that we need to interrogate him," Director of Public Prosecution Marianne Ny said in a statement. "So far, we have not been able to meet with him to accomplish the interrogation."

I can just see this if it gets to trial - who will the defense actually put on the stand as a character witness for this scumbag? I mean, seriously, we have a man who knowingly and willingly put the lives of thousands of American troops in danger along with tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan troops and citizens. A reasonable jury would find this asswipe guilty even if these women were lying through their teeth.

But I'm sure these women are spot on with their allegations - this guy, Assange, is bottom of the barrel - scum of the earth. I'd like to see the Swedish courtroom filled with U.S. Marines and soldiers ... at that point, Assange would probably ask his attorney to plead him out guilty and arrange for 5 years in prison just so he'll feel safe.

Sweden seeks to detain Assange in rape case


STOCKHOLM (AP) - A Swedish prosecutor requested a court order Thursday to detain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for questioning on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion.
Assange has denied the allegations, which stem from his encounters with two women during a visit to Sweden in August.

The Stockholm District Court was to rule on the request later Thursday. The move could mean that prosecutors are preparing an international arrest warrant for the Australian, whose whereabouts was not immediately clear.

"The reason for my request is that we need to interrogate him," Director of Public Prosecution Marianne Ny said in a statement. "So far, we have not been able to meet with him to accomplish the interrogation."

WikiLeaks has angered the Pentagon by releasing thousands of classified U.S. war reports from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Assange had considered setting up a base for WikiLeaks in Sweden, where some of its servers are located, but Swedish immigration authorities denied him a residence permit. Earlier this month, he said he may apply for asylum in Switzerland instead.

Court documents filed by the prosecutor show Assange is suspected of raping and sexually molesting a woman in the town of Enkoping, central Sweden. He's suspected of sexual molestation and unlawful coercion of the second woman, in Stockholm.

A police report obtained by The Associated Press shows that both women had met Assange in connection with a seminar he gave in Stockholm on Aug. 14. The report shows the women filed their complaints together six days later.

Investigators initially disagreed on how to deal with the case.

A Stockholm prosecutor started a rape investigation that was dropped by the city's chief prosecutor a day later. Ny reopened it the following week.

Assange has complained that he and his group are being targeted and persecuted by intelligence agencies from the United States and elsewhere who are angry over the leaks of secret military documents.

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary: Our Enemies Are Pouring Over the WikiLeaks Materials To Strike Our Military

As you've noticed, probably, I've been a bit silent on the WikiLeaks affair but now, with the newest release of nearly 400,000 new documents and the admission by our Defense department that our enemies have already admitted mining data from the reports to use against our troops in the field, I can be silent no more.

First things first....let's look at the report from Breitbart:

U.S. enemies already are combing through data released last week in a trove of Iraq war documents for ways to harm the American military, the Pentagon's No. 2 official said Tuesday.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn called the documents "stolen material" and said they give adversaries key insight on how the U.S. military operates. He did not say which groups, or how the Pentagon knew they were researching the documents.

"There are groups out there that have said they are indeed mining this data to turn around and use against us," Lynn told a small group of reporters during a brief visit to Baghdad. "We think this is problematic."

The Pentagon furiously opposed the documents' release Saturday by the whistle-blower WikiLeaks website. Lynn's remarks came a day after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told CNN that the nearly 400,000 papers did not put troops at risk because the names of any soldiers or Iraqi civilians have been redacted.

At the center of the WikiLeaks controversy is a former intelligence analyst, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is under suspicion of having provided the classified military documents to the whistle-blower website. Manning was stationed in Iraq when he was arrested by U.S. authorities last May. He is charged with multiple counts of mishandling classified data and putting national security at risk.

Okay, you see the two name above that I highlighted: Julian Assange (who owns WikiLeaks) and Bradley Manning (the U.S. soldier suspected of the leak). Now, as I read the article today, all I could envision was a group of 20 to 30 Taliban commanders in southern Afghanistan going over this information - making note of how our soldiers and Marines react to a sniping or to an IED attack, and as they determine the operating strategy and response by our troops, they make notes of their adjustments that will lead to them being able to kill more U.S. troops under those conditions.

And I see red. Violent red.

The first order of business is Bradley Manning. There is no option for this traitor's fate other than for him to face public execution in the public square. There can be no doubt, after this incident, that any soldier or any citizen of the U.S. who puts our troops on the battlefield in this kind of risk is going to be executed in this manner. Brutally and finally. I want this mother fucker to swing from the gallows...I want his family to see it, I want his supporters to see it, I want the world to see it.

The second order of business is Julian Assange. Now, this scumbag is not a citizen of America so I would prefer that this man deal with more punishment before his death sentence. I envision a small room, with concrete floors and walls and nothing else in the room...except for a handfull of U.S. Marines and soldiers. We'll give them a couple of hours...."alone."

Julian Assange is an enemy of America. He has willingly contributed now to the death of American troops...both at the present and in the future. I ask you...how would you feel if your son or daughter in the Army were to be killed in the next three months and it was discovered that the very reason for his death was because of the intel that the Taliban or al Qaeda received from the WikiLeaks leak? Vengeance will be ours, Mr. Assange. You're gonna wish you never heard of the United States of America.

US: Enemies searching WikiLeaks Iraq papers


BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S. enemies already are combing through data released last week in a trove of Iraq war documents for ways to harm the American military, the Pentagon's No. 2 official said Tuesday.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn called the documents "stolen material" and said they give adversaries key insight on how the U.S. military operates. He did not say which groups, or how the Pentagon knew they were researching the documents.

"There are groups out there that have said they are indeed mining this data to turn around and use against us," Lynn told a small group of reporters during a brief visit to Baghdad. "We think this is problematic."

The Pentagon furiously opposed the documents' release Saturday by the whistle-blower WikiLeaks website. Lynn's remarks came a day after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told CNN that the nearly 400,000 papers did not put troops at risk because the names of any soldiers or Iraqi civilians have been redacted.

The U.S. has said that the WikiLeaks release of secret Afghan and Iraq war documents threatens national security.

WikiLeaks posted about 77,000 Afghanistan war logs on its site in July, and the Pentagon concluded that no U.S. intelligence sources or practices were compromised by the posting. A few weeks later, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he was not yet aware of any Afghan people who were killed as the result of the leak, "but I put emphasis on the word 'yet.'"

Lynn said the leaked information would not change the way the estimated 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq operate. But he said he is mulling ways to keep more documents from leaking in the future, such as having computer systems monitor for irregular data searches.

"It does seem like commonsense, and I don't think we're doing enough of it, frankly," Lynn said.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Marine Col. David Lapan said WikiLeaks may have even more classified material than U.S. officials previously believed. He declined to characterize it, but WikiLeaks already has posted half a million secret Iraq and Afghanistan war files since July.

The group is also believed to have another 15,000 Afghan war field reports, 260,000 diplomatic cables and U.S. video of casualties in Afghanistan.

At the center of the WikiLeaks controversy is a former intelligence analyst, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is under suspicion of having provided the classified military documents to the whistle-blower website. Manning was stationed in Iraq when he was arrested by U.S. authorities last May. He is charged with multiple counts of mishandling classified data and putting national security at risk.

Meanwhile, the United Nations' top human rights official called the U.S. and Iraq to investigate allegations of detainee abuse contained in the newest WikiLeaks' war logs. The document cache contained reports of severe abuse by Iraqi forces, and showed that U.S. troops did not intervene to halt the violence in many cases.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the information adds to "concerns that serious breaches of international human rights law have occurred in Iraq."

Pillay said that the U.S. and Iraq should prosecute anyone believed responsible for torture, unlawful killings and other abuses.

The documents show that U.S. forces turned detainees over to Iraqi forces even after signs of abuse.