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It's quite possible that he did, but that's not proven yet. In the meantime, why should I not see it as politically motivated as well? It doesn't seem at all un

It's quite possible that he did, but that's not proven yet. In the meantime, why should I not see it as politically motivated as well? It doesn't seem at all unbelievable to me that governments might stoop to some pretty dodgy behaviour to try to silence him.

jgrahamc 15y ago
I agree with that, but setting him up on some sexual assault charge that itself seems a bit flimsy doesn't seem like much of a government operation. Surely, if they wanted to frame him they could do better than that. How hard could it be to set him up on phony charges of being involved with child pornography? If you want to take the guy down then do that, or something that'll stick.
- mseebach 15y ago
  Or even a proper rape with strong, consistent stories.
- burpee 15y ago
  Considering Assange has probably been pretty careful and paranoid, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the strongest thing "they" could find.
  - jgrahamc 15y ago
    It doesn't sound like he's been very careful. Between sleeping with random women who his supporters claim are CIA agents of some sort, and using the same password for different secret files... But truthfully how hard would it be to honeytrap this guy? Suppose you go with my child pornography scenario, your sexy blonde Swedish secret agent only has to get close enough to slip a USB key into Assange's luggage so that when he flies through LHR customs can stop him and discover it. And if he checked any luggage it would be even easier.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
    - archangel_one 15y ago
      Did anyone seriously suggest the women were CIA sleeper agents? Seems more likely to me like the CIA bought them (or their story) afterwards. One also assumes that he might be a little paranoid about sexy blonde Swedish secret agents hanging around his suitcase...
  - StrawberryFrog 15y ago
    > Considering Assange has probably been pretty careful and paranoid You'd expect that, wouldn't you. But then his whole career show less risk-aversion than most people. To put it mildly.
eli 15y ago
In my personal experience, international government conspiracies are pretty rare and so a more mundane explanation is more likely to be correct.
- StrawberryFrog 15y ago
  Conspiracies are pretty rare, but opportunistic behaviour by governments is not hard to believe. Pissing off governments is like running for president; your transgressions will be dug up and used against you. Are you finding it hard to believe that the US government is trying to disrupt Wikileaks by unusual means, outside of any potential legal proceedings? But this is not theory, it's known fact - both Visa and Amazon dropped Wikileaks after pressure. It's been successful too.
- beagle3 15y ago
  > In my personal experience, international government conspiracies are pretty rare and so a more mundane explanation is more likely to be correct. That's a really funny quote. I'm tempted to downvote you for being so ridiculous (but I've upvoted instead, so others have a better chance to see it). I'll apologize, if you elaborate on how your personal experience might be relevant (though, the only good explanation I can think of is that you are some omniscient being who has good knowledge of conspiracy theories and whether or not they are based on fact; good enough knowledge to derive statistics, at least).

jgrahamc 15y ago

I agree with that, but setting him up on some sexual assault charge that itself seems a bit flimsy doesn't seem like much of a government operation. Surely, if they wanted to frame him they could do better than that. How hard could it be to set him up on phony charges of being involved with child pornography? If you want to take the guy down then do that, or something that'll stick.

mseebach 15y ago
Or even a proper rape with strong, consistent stories.
burpee 15y ago
Considering Assange has probably been pretty careful and paranoid, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the strongest thing "they" could find.
- jgrahamc 15y ago
  It doesn't sound like he's been very careful. Between sleeping with random women who his supporters claim are CIA agents of some sort, and using the same password for different secret files... But truthfully how hard would it be to honeytrap this guy? Suppose you go with my child pornography scenario, your sexy blonde Swedish secret agent only has to get close enough to slip a USB key into Assange's luggage so that when he flies through LHR customs can stop him and discover it. And if he checked any luggage it would be even easier.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - archangel_one 15y ago
    Did anyone seriously suggest the women were CIA sleeper agents? Seems more likely to me like the CIA bought them (or their story) afterwards. One also assumes that he might be a little paranoid about sexy blonde Swedish secret agents hanging around his suitcase...
- StrawberryFrog 15y ago
  > Considering Assange has probably been pretty careful and paranoid You'd expect that, wouldn't you. But then his whole career show less risk-aversion than most people. To put it mildly.

eli 15y ago

In my personal experience, international government conspiracies are pretty rare and so a more mundane explanation is more likely to be correct.

StrawberryFrog 15y ago
Conspiracies are pretty rare, but opportunistic behaviour by governments is not hard to believe. Pissing off governments is like running for president; your transgressions will be dug up and used against you. Are you finding it hard to believe that the US government is trying to disrupt Wikileaks by unusual means, outside of any potential legal proceedings? But this is not theory, it's known fact - both Visa and Amazon dropped Wikileaks after pressure. It's been successful too.
beagle3 15y ago
> In my personal experience, international government conspiracies are pretty rare and so a more mundane explanation is more likely to be correct. That's a really funny quote. I'm tempted to downvote you for being so ridiculous (but I've upvoted instead, so others have a better chance to see it). I'll apologize, if you elaborate on how your personal experience might be relevant (though, the only good explanation I can think of is that you are some omniscient being who has good knowledge of conspiracy theories and whether or not they are based on fact; good enough knowledge to derive statistics, at least).