Julian Assange: Free-Speech Crusader or Threat to the West?

[expat_4_life]

23 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The difference between a terrorist and resistance fighter is which side one supports.  The British thought Begin was a terrorist, but the israelis elected him PM.

 

Absolutely, Afghanistan also a good example
 

[SpaceKadet]

9 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

The Snowden case is different 

and then he defected to Russia. 

Last I saw of him on a web broadcast he still had that disgusting carbuncle on his neck

Don’t they have dermatologists in Moscow?

 

 

He had little choice in the matter. The US were ready to (and did) force the airplanes down just on a suspicion he was onboard. 

[WDSmart]

16 minutes ago, zyphodb said:

 

How can he possibly be a traitor to the USA if he's Australian?

He's not a "traitor"; he's a "trader." He traded the publication of information designated as Top Secret by the US for money - and eventually seven years in prison and a felony conviction. 

[SpaceKadet]

2 hours ago, riclag said:

Founding fathers to my country at one time would of been hanged if found & captured!

Now a days in my opinion , depending on your political leanings Convicted felons have a purpose!

George Floyd, Hunter biden , Assange and Dem convicted Felon ,Trump.

All of these are heroes according to 

one’s political causes.

 

methinks

 

 

You do know that Julian is not and American citizen, right?

[riclag]

25 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said:

You do know that Julian is not and American citizen, right?

Yes, just like the founding fathers of my country ,at one time.

[GroveHillWanderer]

48 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

He's not a "traitor"; he's a "trader." He traded the publication of information designated as Top Secret by the US for money 

Can you provide a link for that claim, please? Genuine request.

[damian]

I wonder how we would judge him if, for example, the secrets he published resulted in the killing of innocents. 

[john donson]

14 hours ago, Tug said:

In my personal opinion he’s a traitor and a threat and should be delt with accordingly.i know it’s unpopular but I stand by my opinion 

 

brainwashed by CNN

 

he and others reported ABUSES of US ARMY, spying on citizens, etc...

[susanlea]

50 minutes ago, damian said:

I wonder how we would judge him if, for example, the secrets he published resulted in the killing of innocents. 

America been killing innocents for 60 years. Was aren't all those presidents in jail?

[Skeptic7]

Hero❗Same with Snowden. Both should be applauded and honored. 

[GypsyT]

6 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Hero❗Same with Snowden. Both should be applauded and honored

I agree.

 

Next close up for ever The Guantanamo Bay detention camp. An other shameful thing.

They closed one in Lithuania where they had tortured Iraq war prisoneers in secrecy.

[WDSmart]

21 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

22 hours ago, WDSmart said:

He's not a "traitor"; he's a "trader." He traded the publication of information designated as Top Secret by the US for money 

Can you provide a link for that claim, please? Genuine request.

Edited 21 hours ago by GroveHillWanderer

What did Julian Assange do? WikiLeaks' most significant document dumps (msn.com)

[Purdey]

I feel curious about this whole saga. Maybe someone knows more than I. Regarding the US diplomatic cables, the whistleblower never disclosed information to the public directly but to Wikileaks, a whistleblower outlet. Wikileaks is Australian (I think) so the whistleblower might have been accused of treason if the information went to an enemy country. Australia is not an enemy so treason was off the table but espionage laws were employed.

 

Wikileaks then gave their information to newspapers like The Guardian, The New York Times, and Der Spiegel, and didn't actually release anything to the public directly. The public had never even heard of Wikileaks.

 

Those newspapers were never charged with anything. Yes, Wikileaks provided the information given them by a whistleblower but the decision to publish was made by the media involved. They, or their editors, were never charged.

 

For some reason, Daniel Ellsberg was not charged with anything in 1971 for his release of the damaging Pentagon Papers. Mark Felt provided information on the Watergate scandal in 2005 to Woodward and Bernstein and neither he nor they were ever charged with anything.

 

Why was only Assange charged and not Wikileaks as an organization and the other media who did the actual publishing?

 

[GroveHillWanderer]

2 hours ago, WDSmart said:

What did Julian Assange do? WikiLeaks' most significant document dumps (msn.com)

There's nothing I can see in that article that says Assange was paid money in exchange for leaking US documents. 

 

Can you point it out to me?

[WDSmart]

13 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

There's nothing I can see in that article that says Assange was paid money in exchange for leaking US documents. 

 

Can you point it out to me?

"In October 2017, Julian Assange said WikiLeaks had made a 50,000% return on Bitcoin. By that December, it had raised at least $25 million in Bitcoin.^"  WikiLeaks - Wikipedia

[GroveHillWanderer]

10 hours ago, WDSmart said:

"In October 2017, Julian Assange said WikiLeaks had made a 50,000% return on Bitcoin. By that December, it had raised at least $25 million in Bitcoin.^"  WikiLeaks - Wikipedia

That says WikiLeaks had made money on Bitcoin (and had raised money in Bitcoin). Again, it does not constitute evidence that he was given money in exchange for US secret documents.

[WDSmart]

On 6/29/2024 at 5:56 PM, GroveHillWanderer said:

That says WikiLeaks had made money on Bitcoin (and had raised money in Bitcoin). Again, it does not constitute evidence that he was given money in exchange for US secret documents.

Much of his success with Bitcoin was due to his publishing of these documents. I'm just saying he made money doing so. I'm not saying that was his only or even primary motive for doing this. 

Anyway, he's now admitted to his crime and is a convicted felon. I don't know what's happened to all his money, but i did see he asked for donations to help him charter the private flight back to Australia. 

I hope we don't ever hear any more about him.

[GypsyT]

1 hour ago, WDSmart said:

Anyway, he's now admitted to his crime and is a convicted felon.

That would qualify him to run for office, the highest spot, but since he's Aussie he can't...