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The histrionics, conspiracy theories and outright lies in this thread are outrageous. The US justice system is not the same as despotic countries like Russia or

The histrionics, conspiracy theories and outright lies in this thread are outrageous. The US justice system is not the same as despotic countries like Russia or China. Reality Winner will be released from prison soon. Chelsea Manning, who leaked the info to him, the actual whistleblower who broke the laws, is a free woman. (Could you imagine if Chelsea tried to transition to a woman in Russia or China or other nations that are coming up in this thread in comparison? Just goes to show how fundamentally different these societies are, that she could transition to a woman while incarcerated!) If Assange hadn't played his games avoiding the court for the better part of a decade, the dude would probably already have done his time and be free. Although it's entertaining to read the astronomically terrible takes in this thread, I did hope to see a little more intelligence in this community.

throwaway21_ 5y ago
Why would he do any time at all? Because the people who actually should be doing time are the people in power so they are somehow immune? Also, Chelsea could transition to a woman without prison too. The fact that they ended/will end in prison while people who actually committed crimes that these two (and Snowden) exposed speaks volumes about how fundamentally different USA is.
- criley2 5y ago
  Well "throwaway21", interesting that every time this topic comes up, brand new accounts come out of the woodwork. I'm not going to accuse you of being a political actor, but I would point out that Wikileaks exists as part of a new realm of state-funded and state-coordinated private intelligence services created to retain plausible deniability. When certain state funded operations come up, the comment sections do always seem to fill with oddly named brand new accounts, on this website and many others! What a weird coincidence. As per his crimes, he is charged with a relatively minor criminal offense stemming from his assistance in attempting to crack a password hash to gain unauthorized access to military computers -- a crime that would also be charged in any other western nation. Imagine hiding from a 5 year max sentence for 10 years. Oof. As for Reality, she really could not have transitioned in Russia and China regardless of prison, that was the point you missed. But as to her crime, yes I do think that the idea of classification and state secrets have merit and that members of the military who violate that can be punished.
  - revolvingocelot 5y ago
    A whole paragraph dedicated to how anonymous internet commenters could be fake spin delivery vehicles, then the suggestion that Assange has been charged with "a relatively minor criminal offence", completely eliding a bunch of politically-motivated now-dismissed sexual assault charges that were the actual impetus for him to hide in a foreign embassy for years. It'd be one thing if he was hiding from a "5 year max" charge of "assistance in attempting to crack a password hash to gain unauthorized access to military computers", but despite your comment clearly implying that this was the case, it's not. I'm not going to accuse you of being a political actor, but what a weird coincidence.
    - criley2 5y ago
      Julian Assange getting away with his sexual assault of a woman due to his politics is very reminiscent of how Donald Trump avoids blame for his sexual crimes through the lens of politics. Very smart tool to ensure you can never be guilty of anything and your supporters will deny any wrongdoing as politically motivated. It's no surprise that Assanage and Trumps people communicated and coordinated, as these devious tactics sure look familiar. Reminds me of Assange's "Seth Rich" gamble, how he supercharged a heinous conspiracy theory on behalf of fake news purely to earn political approval and gain loyalty from folks who, like you, will not do their homework to validate the claims they make. >It'd be one thing if he was hiding from the charge "assistance in attempting to crack a password hash to gain unauthorized access to military computers", but despite your comment clearly implying that this was the case, it's not. Julian's sexual assault crimes have nothing to do with the United States or his extradition here, as the original charges were espionage related. It's a red herring for you to bring it up, and I think either evidence of ignorance (you thought the US was extraditing him for his sexual crimes in Sweden ...?) or malfeasance (you know it was espionage, but you brought this up to muddy the waters intentionally). >I'm not going to accuse you of being a political actor, but what a weird coincidence. It's always cute when people try to repeat your lines back to you as a weak "gotcha" but completely fail. You're not going to make that accusation because I'm obviously not. I will accuse you of being a victim of fake news and implicit supporter of sexual violence though.
realce 5y ago
Reality Winner and Manning are American citizens. Assange is not. What "games" would YOU play to get out of being extradited to a foreign country for crimes of publishing factual information? Your consolation is that it's only a decade or so of his life in a cage unjustly, no big deal? You think it is the definition of intelligence to submit to that?
- criley2 5y ago
  >"What "games" would YOU play to get out of being extradited to a foreign country for crimes of publishing factual information?" The crime he is charged with has nothing to do with publication of anything, it's a charge stemming from his help attempting to crack a password hash of military computer accounts to help gain unauthorized access to military systems. Are foreigners allowed to hack military networks in your country? > You think it is the definition of intelligence to submit to that? Considering that you're giving me an emotional tale of "CRIME OF PUBLISHING" which is completely contrary to the facts, I would say that the definition of intelligence at the very least includes setting your emotions aside and learning the basic information of a situation before coming to a conclusion
  - Ekaros 5y ago
    So will USA extradite let's say Israeli hackers to Iran? If not they are purely hypocritical.
    - meepmorp 5y ago
      Did those people commit a crime under US law? Does the US have an extradition treaty with Iran? Since the answer to both of these questions is no, what does it have to do with Assange's situation?
  - criley2 5y ago
    The US does not have an extradition treaty with Iran, so no, they will not extradite folks there. I do hope the US files charges against Israeli hackers who have targeted American organizations though. No country should get a free pass.
throwamon 5y ago
Is this the kind of thing you'd call a conspiracy theory? https://news.yahoo.com/kidnapping-assassination-and-a-london-shoot-out-inside-the-ci-as-secret-war-plans-against-wiki-leaks-090057786.html https://news.yahoo.com/kidnapping-assassination-and-a-london...
choward 5y ago
So it's okay to murder people as long as you're woke?

throwaway21_ 5y ago

Why would he do any time at all? Because the people who actually should be doing time are the people in power so they are somehow immune? Also, Chelsea could transition to a woman without prison too. The fact that they ended/will end in prison while people who actually committed crimes that these two (and Snowden) exposed speaks volumes about how fundamentally different USA is.

criley2 5y ago
Well "throwaway21", interesting that every time this topic comes up, brand new accounts come out of the woodwork. I'm not going to accuse you of being a political actor, but I would point out that Wikileaks exists as part of a new realm of state-funded and state-coordinated private intelligence services created to retain plausible deniability. When certain state funded operations come up, the comment sections do always seem to fill with oddly named brand new accounts, on this website and many others! What a weird coincidence. As per his crimes, he is charged with a relatively minor criminal offense stemming from his assistance in attempting to crack a password hash to gain unauthorized access to military computers -- a crime that would also be charged in any other western nation. Imagine hiding from a 5 year max sentence for 10 years. Oof. As for Reality, she really could not have transitioned in Russia and China regardless of prison, that was the point you missed. But as to her crime, yes I do think that the idea of classification and state secrets have merit and that members of the military who violate that can be punished.
- revolvingocelot 5y ago
  A whole paragraph dedicated to how anonymous internet commenters could be fake spin delivery vehicles, then the suggestion that Assange has been charged with "a relatively minor criminal offence", completely eliding a bunch of politically-motivated now-dismissed sexual assault charges that were the actual impetus for him to hide in a foreign embassy for years. It'd be one thing if he was hiding from a "5 year max" charge of "assistance in attempting to crack a password hash to gain unauthorized access to military computers", but despite your comment clearly implying that this was the case, it's not. I'm not going to accuse you of being a political actor, but what a weird coincidence.
  - criley2 5y ago
    Julian Assange getting away with his sexual assault of a woman due to his politics is very reminiscent of how Donald Trump avoids blame for his sexual crimes through the lens of politics. Very smart tool to ensure you can never be guilty of anything and your supporters will deny any wrongdoing as politically motivated. It's no surprise that Assanage and Trumps people communicated and coordinated, as these devious tactics sure look familiar. Reminds me of Assange's "Seth Rich" gamble, how he supercharged a heinous conspiracy theory on behalf of fake news purely to earn political approval and gain loyalty from folks who, like you, will not do their homework to validate the claims they make. >It'd be one thing if he was hiding from the charge "assistance in attempting to crack a password hash to gain unauthorized access to military computers", but despite your comment clearly implying that this was the case, it's not. Julian's sexual assault crimes have nothing to do with the United States or his extradition here, as the original charges were espionage related. It's a red herring for you to bring it up, and I think either evidence of ignorance (you thought the US was extraditing him for his sexual crimes in Sweden ...?) or malfeasance (you know it was espionage, but you brought this up to muddy the waters intentionally). >I'm not going to accuse you of being a political actor, but what a weird coincidence. It's always cute when people try to repeat your lines back to you as a weak "gotcha" but completely fail. You're not going to make that accusation because I'm obviously not. I will accuse you of being a victim of fake news and implicit supporter of sexual violence though.

realce 5y ago

Reality Winner and Manning are American citizens. Assange is not. What "games" would YOU play to get out of being extradited to a foreign country for crimes of publishing factual information? Your consolation is that it's only a decade or so of his life in a cage unjustly, no big deal? You think it is the definition of intelligence to submit to that?

criley2 5y ago
>"What "games" would YOU play to get out of being extradited to a foreign country for crimes of publishing factual information?" The crime he is charged with has nothing to do with publication of anything, it's a charge stemming from his help attempting to crack a password hash of military computer accounts to help gain unauthorized access to military systems. Are foreigners allowed to hack military networks in your country? > You think it is the definition of intelligence to submit to that? Considering that you're giving me an emotional tale of "CRIME OF PUBLISHING" which is completely contrary to the facts, I would say that the definition of intelligence at the very least includes setting your emotions aside and learning the basic information of a situation before coming to a conclusion
- Ekaros 5y ago
  So will USA extradite let's say Israeli hackers to Iran? If not they are purely hypocritical.
  - meepmorp 5y ago
    Did those people commit a crime under US law? Does the US have an extradition treaty with Iran? Since the answer to both of these questions is no, what does it have to do with Assange's situation?
- criley2 5y ago
  The US does not have an extradition treaty with Iran, so no, they will not extradite folks there. I do hope the US files charges against Israeli hackers who have targeted American organizations though. No country should get a free pass.

throwamon 5y ago

Is this the kind of thing you'd call a conspiracy theory? https://news.yahoo.com/kidnapping-assassination-and-a-london-shoot-out-inside-the-ci-as-secret-war-plans-against-wiki-leaks-090057786.html https://news.yahoo.com/kidnapping-assassination-and-a-london...

choward 5y ago

So it's okay to murder people as long as you're woke?