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And when powerful people want to show off their power it tends to be less fatal and more drag-through-the-mud style tactics. Like what happened to Julian Assang
by roenxi 3y ago
And when powerful people want to show off their power it tends to be less fatal and more drag-through-the-mud style tactics. Like what happened to Julian Assange. Killing him was an option on the table as far as I recall, but it wasn't what they ended up doing.
Although that being said, I wouldn't rule this out as being organised by Boeing's management or a major shareholder or something. It is a company in the military-industrial complex.
- pydry 3y agoAssange talked about his dead man's switch previously. If it weren't for that the powers that be probably would have Putined him.
- generic92034 3y agoIs that plausible, though? Why would he not have used that leverage to prevent captivity?
- pydry 3y agoI don't know. He never talked about a captivity switch. Perhaps he is an object lesson that one should create a "switch escalator". Perhaps a dead man's switch used in captivity could also potentially make captivity worse and remove what last remnants of hope he has. I suspect if he pulled the switch now then a lot of the sympathy he got for exposing a war crime might go out the window.
- generic92034 3y agoThe purpose of a dead-man switch is that an action automatically happens, if a person cannot trigger that action themselves anymore. This is not required in any kind of normal captivity, where the captured still can talk to lawyers and other visitors. So, frankly, if Assange is not using the leverage (using in the sense of using it as a threat) my best explanation so far is that he does not have any (at least not anything substantial enough). But I am open to be convinced otherwise.
- pydry 3y agoThe insurance file is still encrypted. There are still lots of angry articles about how it will PUT LIVES AT RISK if it is unencrypted. The powers that be appear to be walking a tightrope between not exposing their own assets and trying to make an example out of people who expose war crimes while trying not to put lives at risk.
- lucioperca 3y agoShould have given him protection, quite bad for the USA that they cannot let the truth succeed in this case. In the long term there is no cheating about safety possible anyhow.
- bamboozled 3y agoJulian Assange has invalidated so much about modern America for me. Even when I think I should sort of trust the US government, his name seems to echo through my mind and I think, nahhhh, too much hypocrisy. If the US government pardoned him they’d be doing themselves a massive favor.
- Bluescreenbuddy 3y agoJulian stopped being credible the moment he had intel on two parties but decided to only release info on one to damage them
- loup-vaillant 3y agoDo you have a source for this? I recall he asked for intel on both parties, but ended up getting it only for one. The conundrum then became releasing only the one, or release nothing.
- loup-vaillant 3y ago> Killing him was an option on the table as far as I recall, but it wasn't what they ended up doing. Because this time wasn't about silencing him (too late for that), but making an example. And for this, a blatant enough assassination would likely tarnish the image the US government wants to project too much. Going through the courts, making a show of "due process", now that's looking pretty good: "hey journalists, we can't kill you if you babble too much, but we can make you wish we did, and since it's all legal good luck about rousing public opinion about it".