Well, not to put a fine point on it, but Assange was already known as a bit of a dick. I think the issue was, what was considered rape in Sweden was basically

Well, not to put a fine point on it, but Assange was already known as a bit of a dick. I think the issue was, what was considered rape in Sweden was basically just being a misogynistic douche in other countries. However, he would have known this well before going into the country, it's not like they created a new law just for him. I doubt the US is so subtle as to use pirates. People seem to have these grand conspiracies about how the government is like a ninja...it's not. They will simply send the police around and arrest him. Seriously, why are they going to bother with cloak and daggers for? This isn't a Bond movie. They will simply arrest him, and charge him with espionage charges since...err..that's sort of what he did?