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> the politician who wanted to drone him is an American, and the reason he's still alive isn't actually any guns or tanks protecting him, it's the PR outcry th

> the politician who wanted to drone him is an American, and the reason he's still alive isn't actually any guns or tanks protecting him, it's the PR outcry that would happen if an assassination took place Are you talking about Hilary Clinton? I wouldn't trust the sources on that. Additionally, it's just plain ridiculous. A Predator drone dropping 100lb bombs on an embassy in London? A PR outcry of an assassination would be the least of the repercussions that this would incur.

nostrademons 9y ago
I don't actually care whether it's true or not - the OP brought it up as an example, so rather than challenge the example I'd rather challenge the point. This blog post starts as a thought-experiment for what would happen if there were no nation-states, which is clearly already in the realm of fiction, so if it's not true then just posit hypothetically that a Secretary of State suggested that the U.S. drop a bomb on an Australian citizen in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. My point is that it's not actually Ecuador or the UK who keeps him alive, it's that the U.S. would be dropping a bomb on a private citizen in the midst of a city.
- teddyh 9y ago
  > My point is that it's not actually Ecuador or the UK who keeps him alive, it's that the U.S. would be dropping a bomb on a private citizen in the midst of a city. Don’t they already do that?
  - sjcsjc 9y ago
    Yeah, but only in uncivilised places and fortunately the casualties are always suspected militants. So that doesn't count.
    - JoBrad 9y ago
      In other words, in places where the nation-state is weak
  - coldtea 9y ago
    Yeah, but non in cities-proper, in arab, asian etc cities. Who cares about those people and their kids? /s
  - JetSpiegel 9y ago
    Not on NATO signataries.
  - CydeWeys 9y ago
    The UK is the US's closest ally, forged in the blood of millions of dead fighting for common causes. The last military action between the two was over two centuries ago. It would be truly unprecedented to bomb the capital of our closest ally, an act which is undoubtedly an act of war, in order to assassinate a US citizen accused of crimes. There's no comparison whatsoever between this hypothetical act and airstrikes in an active warzone.
    - ak4g 9y ago
      Assange is not a US citizen.
      - CydeWeys 9y ago
        I was mistakenly thinking of Edward Snowden, who is in Russia, not London. Bombing Russia to get Snowden would also be very bad.
ethanhunt_ 9y ago
> A Predator drone dropping 100lb bombs on an embassy in London? Obviously that wouldn't happen, but there's more discreet ways of killing someone than that. Obama has an enormous amount of people assassinated without trial, including American citizens. It's more than just a thought experiment. > I wouldn't trust the sources on that Like I said, I think there's no good source for it. That the highest levels of the US govt considered the idea of assassinating Assange because he is damaging to the image of America is plausible though.

nostrademons 9y ago

I don't actually care whether it's true or not - the OP brought it up as an example, so rather than challenge the example I'd rather challenge the point. This blog post starts as a thought-experiment for what would happen if there were no nation-states, which is clearly already in the realm of fiction, so if it's not true then just posit hypothetically that a Secretary of State suggested that the U.S. drop a bomb on an Australian citizen in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. My point is that it's not actually Ecuador or the UK who keeps him alive, it's that the U.S. would be dropping a bomb on a private citizen in the midst of a city.

teddyh 9y ago
> My point is that it's not actually Ecuador or the UK who keeps him alive, it's that the U.S. would be dropping a bomb on a private citizen in the midst of a city. Don’t they already do that?
- sjcsjc 9y ago
  Yeah, but only in uncivilised places and fortunately the casualties are always suspected militants. So that doesn't count.
  - JoBrad 9y ago
    In other words, in places where the nation-state is weak
- coldtea 9y ago
  Yeah, but non in cities-proper, in arab, asian etc cities. Who cares about those people and their kids? /s
- JetSpiegel 9y ago
  Not on NATO signataries.
- CydeWeys 9y ago
  The UK is the US's closest ally, forged in the blood of millions of dead fighting for common causes. The last military action between the two was over two centuries ago. It would be truly unprecedented to bomb the capital of our closest ally, an act which is undoubtedly an act of war, in order to assassinate a US citizen accused of crimes. There's no comparison whatsoever between this hypothetical act and airstrikes in an active warzone.
  - ak4g 9y ago
    Assange is not a US citizen.
    - CydeWeys 9y ago
      I was mistakenly thinking of Edward Snowden, who is in Russia, not London. Bombing Russia to get Snowden would also be very bad.

ethanhunt_ 9y ago

> A Predator drone dropping 100lb bombs on an embassy in London? Obviously that wouldn't happen, but there's more discreet ways of killing someone than that. Obama has an enormous amount of people assassinated without trial, including American citizens. It's more than just a thought experiment. > I wouldn't trust the sources on that Like I said, I think there's no good source for it. That the highest levels of the US govt considered the idea of assassinating Assange because he is damaging to the image of America is plausible though.