If Sweden was such a terrible place for Assange to be why did apply for a work permit there? Why did he leave and go the UK, after all a nation with far closer

If Sweden was such a terrible place for Assange to be why did apply for a work permit there? Why did he leave and go the UK, after all a nation with far closer ties to the US? Onward extradition would have been far more complicated via Sweden as the UK would have had to approve it as well. Why not just have the US extradite Assange from the UK to the USA directly? If the CIA was going to concoct a rape claim why not make it a little more than "she was asleep"? If the USA is ruthless in the pursuit of its enemies (except of course Snowdon is a US citizen who, rightly or wrongly, very much did break US law) then why has it been so decidedly non ruthless in the pursuit of Assange?