Assange arrest bad in so many ways
The Assange arrest is bad in so many ways that are not even being mentioned
How is the Assange arrest bad? Let me count the ways.
1. The US, as it has so often, committed machinations to replace the left-wing Ecuadorean government of Rafael Correa (which had offered Assange political asylum and sanctuary in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, then granted him citizenship, plus diplomatic status in the hope that he could leave the embassy without arrest) with the right-wing government of (the ironically named) current president Lenin Moreno. The latter steadily put the screws on Assange in the embassy, culminating in allowing British police to enter the Ecuadorean territory of the embassy and seize this Ecuadorean citizen. Shame on Moreno, and on any Ecuadoreans who abetted this obsequiousness to the superpower. And a lesson that the US is prepared to play a long, indirect game to get what it wants.
2. The UK similarly rolled over for their American masters, even hypocritically pretending that they sought to arrest Assange for skipping bail (after waylaying him for phony Swedish inquiries, not even charges, on rape allegations). This pusillanimous UK, once the proud torchbearer of civil liberties and the Magna Carta, should go ahead and Brexit — the EU is better off without you. Good luck cozying up to the US; haven’t you heard how Trump habitually stiffs his contractors?
3. Sweden — nice, liberal, principled, neutral Sweden — allowed the US to suborn it towards the US’ own ends by pursuing obviously concocted rape charges (which even the complainant withdrew) as if there were no possibility that it was a politically vengeful set-up.
4. The media (US, and even putatively liberal UK outlets like The Guardian) cheering the dismemberment of one of their own. We knew they were bad, but we hadn’t really suspected them to be cannibals.
5. Hillary, justly scorned by US voters, saying that Assange has to “answer for what he has done.” What he has done is to reveal part of the truth about you. Damn you, again.
6. And the pro-Assange community — totally lame in not coming up with a scheme (and they had several days advance warning) to block his arrest, or better still to disrupt it and spirit him away. Plan point 1: bring wedge-shaped logs to block the tires of the paddy wagon so that it couldn’t roll forwards or back; then blowtorch all the tires. Point 2: bring a thousand Guy Fawkes masks, including one for Assange; everyone don them on signal, and put one on Assange as soon as you’ve wrestled him away from the goons. Point 3: pre-arrange multiple getaway feints to try to penetrate the security cordon with Assange look-alikes in masks, and meanwhile get the real Assange out through a weak point in the cordon (which you could have detected in the minutes before the removal, with systematic scanning and observation of the array of forces around the site). If you want to get dramatic, set up some smoke bombs, teargas bombs, or other distraction. There, I thought of all that in two minutes. What’s so hard? Hate to break it to you, but you’ve got much harsher stuff coming down the line, maybe very soon. If you couldn’t handle this Assange removal, you’re not ready for prime time, and they’re going to roll over you.
These are apart from the obvious chilling effect on press freedom, whistleblowing, dissent, Internet freedom, and freedom of conscience…this episode has told us a lot, all of it unpleasant. On the last point, since Assange is still held somewhere in London and presumably will have to be brought out for his rendition flight to a US black spot, it’s not too late to try again and do it right this time. Saving Assange is worthwhile in itself, but the real point is to show that the forces of freedom and truth have some muscle — and hopefully, this time, some brains.
