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Assange has a lot more enemies than the ones you choose to believe. Considering the Panama Papers were pretty much a long expose of Russian and Middle-East corr

Assange has a lot more enemies than the ones you choose to believe. Considering the Panama Papers were pretty much a long expose of Russian and Middle-East corruption, much moreso than the West, I suspect a lot of angry autocrats and dictators would like a piece of him too and they're not shy about war crimes or assassinating journalists. The leaks he's released target dozens of nations. He has a lot of enemies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_published_by_WikiLeaks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_published_by_WikiL... edit: apparantly he didn't do the panama papers, but the above link shows a lot of players who are going to be angry at him, especially his host nation considering he leaked UK Trident nuclear secrets last year.

EdHominem 10y ago
Yeah, because killing Assange would re-hide the documents. Brilliant. I'm sure they wouldn't shed any tears but it's unlikely they'll try to draw more attention to themselves. There's really only one group large enough to do what they want, damn the consequences.
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  >Yeah, because killing Assange would re-hide the documents. Did this stop Putin from murdering x amount of journalists? I suspect chilling speech is the ultimate goal and some petty revenge as well. Also maintaining the perception of being a "strong man" ruler who does whatever he wants. >There's really only one group large enough to do what they want I think you're vastly underestimate the intelligence agencies of many countries here. The CIA bogeyman gets you instant upvotes on reddit/HN but the reality is that the top 30 or so nations have impressive intelligence organizations with far reaching abilities. Cutting an internet line at an embassy in London isn't exactly the moon landing here. Until we hear some technical details of some vast and highly technical attack that only the US can perform, I'll remain skeptical of such claims. The reality is that cutting or DDOS'ing lines is a trivial attack. This isn't Stuxnet and you guys know it.
  - jacquesm 10y ago
    It's a pretty impressive feat if they manage to disconnect Assange while leaving the embassy connected. Messing with the communications capabilities of an embassy is not something done without a whole lot of possible fall-out.
    - sleepybrett 10y ago
      If it were my embassy I wouldn't let assange on my network. I imagine he has his own private internet connection.
      - jacquesm 10y ago
        Apparently Ecuador agrees with you and it appears that he didn't have a private internet connection.
- ZoF 10y ago
  It might not re-hide the documents, but it does send a message.
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  Wikileaks claims it was Ecuador. So again, the CIA bogeyman that gets you knee-jerk upvotes from edgy teens on HN and Reddit is proven to be false.
thomask0 10y ago
Assange was NOT behind the Panama papers. Like you said that exposed Putin corruption so Assange called it a hitjob on Putin. https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/717670056650530816 https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/717670056650530816
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  Oh the irony of Assange being unable to tolerate leaks that make Russia look bad. Its clear what side he's playing for and it ain't for Western democracy and human rights. I find it amusing that facts about how Russian citizens are being ripped off by their autocratic elites is a "hitjob." What does that word even mean? These documents are verified to be real. Putin's regime is that corrupt. Apparently, Assange and his Russian handlers have a desperate case of being able to dish it out, but not being able to take it.

EdHominem 10y ago

Yeah, because killing Assange would re-hide the documents. Brilliant. I'm sure they wouldn't shed any tears but it's unlikely they'll try to draw more attention to themselves. There's really only one group large enough to do what they want, damn the consequences.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago
>Yeah, because killing Assange would re-hide the documents. Did this stop Putin from murdering x amount of journalists? I suspect chilling speech is the ultimate goal and some petty revenge as well. Also maintaining the perception of being a "strong man" ruler who does whatever he wants. >There's really only one group large enough to do what they want I think you're vastly underestimate the intelligence agencies of many countries here. The CIA bogeyman gets you instant upvotes on reddit/HN but the reality is that the top 30 or so nations have impressive intelligence organizations with far reaching abilities. Cutting an internet line at an embassy in London isn't exactly the moon landing here. Until we hear some technical details of some vast and highly technical attack that only the US can perform, I'll remain skeptical of such claims. The reality is that cutting or DDOS'ing lines is a trivial attack. This isn't Stuxnet and you guys know it.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  It's a pretty impressive feat if they manage to disconnect Assange while leaving the embassy connected. Messing with the communications capabilities of an embassy is not something done without a whole lot of possible fall-out.
  - sleepybrett 10y ago
    If it were my embassy I wouldn't let assange on my network. I imagine he has his own private internet connection.
    - jacquesm 10y ago
      Apparently Ecuador agrees with you and it appears that he didn't have a private internet connection.
ZoF 10y ago
It might not re-hide the documents, but it does send a message.
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Wikileaks claims it was Ecuador. So again, the CIA bogeyman that gets you knee-jerk upvotes from edgy teens on HN and Reddit is proven to be false.

thomask0 10y ago

Assange was NOT behind the Panama papers. Like you said that exposed Putin corruption so Assange called it a hitjob on Putin. https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/717670056650530816 https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/717670056650530816

drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Oh the irony of Assange being unable to tolerate leaks that make Russia look bad. Its clear what side he's playing for and it ain't for Western democracy and human rights. I find it amusing that facts about how Russian citizens are being ripped off by their autocratic elites is a "hitjob." What does that word even mean? These documents are verified to be real. Putin's regime is that corrupt. Apparently, Assange and his Russian handlers have a desperate case of being able to dish it out, but not being able to take it.