Assange is a creep. But if US Govt. manages to get it's blood soaked oily hands on him, he will become more powerful than he ever dreamed. Also: if UK invades Ecuador embassy then they lose out on future South American trade, and may find their own embassies ransacked. And MOAR whistleblowing sites like Wikileaks shall appear.
"If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine." I've heard that somewhere before, but...
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/assange-ecuador-asylum-u-k-123726223.html "The foreign minister said that Ecuador asked Sweden to promise it would not extradite Assange to the United States, but Sweden refused." Wow, what a bunch of cowards. They could have questioned him in the embassy also but I heard they turned that down as well.
Or Sweeden refuses to let Ecuador dictate its policy decisions. But actually this whole thing is just one big game of diplomatic posturing. The Ecuadoran government doesn't actually give two shits about Julian Assange. You know it, I know it, and I'd bet Assange knows it as well. Ecuador is going to ride this as long as they can use it to convince their voters that they're standing up to the big bad US, and then they'll hand him over to Sweeden or the Brits. Meanwhile, Assange gets to grandstand awhile longer, stay out of jail, and host his show. It's a marriage of convenience for the two parties and was a smart move for both. But that's all this is.
Apparently, an emergency meeting of the OAS has been called by President Correa. A cultural note: Latins are much more united in causes such as this than the Anglo-Saxons. Good luck, HMSS.
Why seizing Assange could break international law - CBC News The British government could find itself hauled before an international court if it moves in on the Ecuadorian embassy where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been granted political asylum. "It's pretty simple under international law," Temple University international law professor Peter Spiro told CBC News. "Without the consent of the state whose embassy is implicated, the host state may not enter those premises." "The U.K. has no right to enter the embassy. Even if Ecuador is violating some other obligation, that does not justify British authorities entering the premises without Ecuador's consent," Spiro said. The rules governing the rights of foreign embassies were set out in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic relations international treaty, of which Britain is a signator. The treaty states that "the premises of the mission shall be inviolable" and that agents of the home country "may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission." Spiro said the strongest argument for a host country to infringe on that inviolability would be in rare circumstances where a physical threat may be emanating from the embassy — like a fire, or a sniper. "But just having someone seeking asylum? No. Because historically there are lots of cases of folks seeking so-called diplomatic asylum in embassies and the host state just pretty much has to put up with it," Spiro said. Even if one member of the embassy murdered another, the host country would still have no right to enter the premises, Spiro said. More at http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/08/16/foreign-embassy-julian-assange-sovereignty.html
Well, the US and UK own the World "Court", but certainly Britain's embassy in Ecuador, at least, would become a target for local Assange sympathizers and freedom-lovers in general unschooled in Gandhi-tech.
Must be all that Swedish porn that got exported to USA under some secret trade agreement in the 1980's. The Swedes are bending over and spreading their asscheeks. The British are doing the video camera and security. It is a most undignified thing to witness. Assange as sacrificial lamb before the altar of dying Milton Friedman economics. It would be funny if it wasn't so darn predictable. And the great Osama just shuts his ass up and says nothing. The fucking coward. And who is next, Romney?? LOL. INB4 US is fucked
The UK has a "special relationship" with the United States. They will break into the embassy, drag Assange out and hand him over to the US for waterboarding and more.
Two words: Casus. Belli. If the embassy is stormed, that's an act of war, and it isn't just Scientology who can learn the meaning of "none of us are as cruel as all of us." I would hope the Home Secretary and the rest of Her Majesty's Government would be wise enough to see that.
British embassies the world over would be Fair Game for anyone who wanted to hang an Anglo scalp on their wall. Of course, such people don't exist...
Some random thoughts: 1) Julian Assange, International Couch Surfing Champion, 2012! 2) Pretext to Faulklands War 2
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...urround-embassy--steps-outside-ll-pounce.html How long will they keep this up?
The UK wants everyone to see its got the lowest swingin balls on the block basically. It's diplomatic brinksmanship which is usually a sign that people are starting to get a little stupid, at least if it's over something as insignificant as Assange. Does Ecuador really want to damage its diplomatic relations with the US UK and Sweeden over Assange? Absolutely not. Does the UK want to damage its relations with every Latin American country just to look tough? Hell no. But States have a nasty tendency to fuck themselves with stubbornness over situations like these. I'm still standing by my prediction of Assange being handed over to the Brits after some diplomatic favors are exchanged. But who knows, maybe the UK decides to send a statement that it's tired of Eduador's bullshit or maybe they decide it's just not worth it. Whatever happens, this whole thing will still have been a giant waste of time.
Ecuador recently told Chevron to go fuck itself. You can bet Uncle Sam's mafia want to drop some bombs if Assange gets to Quito.
Are you feeling well? That was somewhat reasonable, and that's not like you. I disagree with your conclusion, but the underlying premise is sound.
If Assange were a Jew, Israel would already have sent in IDF commandos to spirit him to Israel, Vienna Convention notwithstanding.
On WWP disagreement and appeal to critical thinking = trolling. LOL. These guys do not like it when their carefully constructed fantasies are exploded.
http://pme200.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/assanges-balcony-speech.html This guy says it better than I ever could.
Assange has not yet been formally charged with any offence, the Swedish prosecutor said that formal charges will be laid only after extradition and a second round of questioning. The UK High Court found that the Swedish process has reached the stage of criminal proceedings, which would be equivalent to having been charged under English process. Ecuador offered to allow Swedish prosecutors to question Assange at the Embassy in London, but this was turned down by the Swedish prosecutors. Assange has said he would go to Sweden if provided with a diplomatic guarantee that he would not be turned over to the United States. Why can no such guarantees be given?
Because Julian Assange, no matter how special you think he is, does not get to dictate the policies of the Sweedish government.
Not really - not for a domestic audience anyway. Here in the UK the government have been keeping very very quiet about this. It's popping up on the news occasionally but Assange is getting almost all of the airtime - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk/
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