Topic: Wikileaks:

[Istanbul, 2005]

Certainly interesting, but I don't find it remotely convincing.

Given that Assange is not the most popular figure among the ruling political classes in the west, we can assume they will, and have, tried to discredit him repeatedly. It's an obvious tactic. You discredit him, you discredit wikileaks and you therefore undermine the credibility of everything on there.
So are we supposed to take everything this former NSA and counterintelligence officer says at face value? Could this article not be part of a larger campaign against Assange to paint him in a negative light? I'm not saying it is necessarily. But given the guy's background, we have to consider it at least.

He says Snowden is a Russian spy, and links to some sketchy article in Bild (Germany), hardly the most convincing news source to say the least.
He claims Assange knew the Kremlin would welcome Snowden when he was seeking asylum, and ponders how exactly he could have known. But Russia had come out publicly and stated they would welcome him, so I'm not sure what the point is there except to suggest Assange has connections high up in Russia, though he points to no-one in particular.

He makes the needless comparison of wikileaks to the 1970s magazine Covert Action Information Bulletin, simply by equating Snowden to their former editor who ended up in Cuba, but without any real facts beyond that.

He finds it strange that Assange felt the FSB might offer good protection. I don't find that strange at all. Who better to protect you from the threat of western security forces than the people who've been trained to thwart them? I certainly wouldn't be ruling them out on ideological grounds centered on issues of privacy, as the author suggests Assange should have, if I felt my life was in grave danger.

He also talks about how Russia has planted fake emails among the leaked DNC emails, a tactic he calls 'disinformation' and describes it as 'a venerable Russian spy trick that can be politically devastating to its target.'
Is he seriously asking us to believe his former buddies at the NSA or CIA never used disinformation? I would have thought it was a primary weapon in any intelligence based organization.
 
When exactly did Russia plant these fake emails? Could they not have planted them without wikileaks knowing, given the huge amount of data we're talking about here? He doesn't even attempt to address that.

The general tone of the whole article and the language he uses is so belligerent and one-sided, that I find much of it hard to swallow. It's not the language you'd see used by a competent investigative journalist, which of course he isn't. He's a former counterintelligence officer who worked for the NSA, an organization who openly lied about it's public spying program.

Given the damage wikileaks could do to successive US governments, I'd find it strange if Russia didn't try to engage with the site (or Assange) in some way, by fair means or foul. My enemy's enemy is my friend and all that. How complicit wikileaks might be in that relationship is another story. This article doesn't really convince me anyway.

I wouldn't call myself an Assange fanboy by any stretch, but I do find the whole wikileaks phenomenon interesting. Given that we're in the world of hacktivism/hacking and intelligence/counter-intelligence here, it's very hard for anyone not involved directly to take any of it at face value. It's a game of smoke of mirrors being played out in a media landscape of smoke of mirrors.

Good post, but watch out you will soon be targeted as a Putin apologist or a Russian troll.

If the US didn´t want Snowden in Russia why did they revoke his passport and trap him in moscow? He was on his way to Latin America. If that wasn´t their intention it was an incredible dumb act by the CIA / US intelligence.

It strikes how brave Snowden is in the way he also criticizes Putin, who is basically the only thing between Snowden and a US prison cell for the rest of his life.

[stevensr123]

Have to laugh at clinton supporters "How dare wikileaks backed by putin expose our corruption" and people on here labelling people as putin supports haha

[Yorkykopite]

Wikileaks now decides to out gays in Saudi Arabia. Unbelievable.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/08/23/wikileaks-outs-gay-people-in-saudi-arabia-in-reckless-mass-data-dump/?utm_source=MOBT&utm_medium=Twittermob&Twittermob&utm_campaign=PNMOBT

[classycarra]

Wikileaks now decides to out gays in Saudi Arabia. Unbelievable.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/08/23/wikileaks-outs-gay-people-in-saudi-arabia-in-reckless-mass-data-dump/?utm_source=MOBT&utm_medium=Twittermob&Twittermob&utm_campaign=PNMOBT

Assange's quote at the bottom seems equally apt to describe wikileaks and him

"has also become a menace to its neighbours and itself.”

you just know that he believes the baffling messianic praise some give him, and believes he's doing incredible things. the man is an awful human being

would be interested in seeing a list of the people he's directly endangered through his shameless releases of pure data.

alongside this latest story, he outed members of opposition parties in turkey recently leading to arrests and crackdowns against them post-coup

[SP]

Sweden does have a Data Protection Act - they must have run foul of it - the public interest defence is very thin.

[lorenzo]

Assange's quote at the bottom seems equally apt to describe wikileaks and him

"has also become a menace to its neighbours and itself.”

you just know that he believes the baffling messianic praise some give him, and believes he's doing incredible things. the man is an awful human being

would be interested in seeing a list of the people he's directly endangered through his shameless releases of pure data.

alongside this latest story, he outed members of opposition parties in turkey recently leading to arrests and crackdowns against them post-coup

If people didn't have secrets there wouldn't be a Wikileaks, so as much as Assange is a bad person. So is the people he is exposing at the same time, we live in a extremely strange world where information is power i guess. 

[Something Worse]

If people didn't have secrets there wouldn't be a Wikileaks, so as much as Assange is a bad person. So is the people he is exposing at the same time, we live in a extremely strange world where information is power i guess.

Outing gay people is never acceptable though. Ever.

[Yorkykopite]

If people didn't have secrets there wouldn't be a Wikileaks, so as much as Assange is a bad person. So is the people he is exposing at the same time, we live in a extremely strange world where information is power i guess. 

There are many good reasons why people have secrets. Gays in Saudi Arabia need secrets. Dissidents in Syria and Egypt need secrets. People with mental health problems need secrets. Even governments - democratic, constitutional ones - have a right to keep secrets.

Assange and Wikileaks don't care about any of this.

[SP]

Outing the machinations of governments is acceptable. Leaking individual's credit card details and medical records is not. Leaks are not a higher purpose, not everything should be published.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Outing the machinations of governments is acceptable. Leaking individual's credit card details and medical records is not. Leaks are not a higher purpose, not everything should be published.

It's absolutely appalling and needless, Assange really is an idiot for jeopardising the safety of these people for no good reason.

[lorenzo]

Sorry my apologies i should of stated the obvious, when i meant secrets of course i am talking more in line with bad secrets. Being gay or having any good reason to have a secret for example national security that goes without saying.

I was not also defending his actions just pointing out, that at times some action taking by bad people can lead to good things.

[Yorkykopite]

Sorry my apologies i should of stated the obvious, when i meant secrets of course i am talking more in line with bad secrets. Being gay or having any good reason to have a secret for example national security that goes without saying.

I was not also defending his actions just pointing out, that at times some action taking by bad people can lead to good things.

Understood. But Wikileaks doesn't discriminate between 'good' and 'bad'. It releases everything. It exposes people to all sorts of danger from repressive regimes.

Actually, that's not quite true. It does discriminate. Nothing is leaked which may embarrass Russia.

[Yorkykopite]

An interesting insight into why Assange and wikileaks are now doing the bidding of the extreme right.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jamesball/heres-what-i-learned-about-julian-assange?utm_term=.ip7l2zKLK#.chL15DOMO

[boots]

Very interesting article, which by and large, confirmed to me my own feelings and observations on the 'wiki leaks' affairs. Which are that he is a self centred and self interested individual. As is his organisation.

[Caligula?]

I agree but Assange has become the message, rather than the bearer, which is unfortunate (and possibly deliberate).

And this still rings true today, perhaps now more than ever.

An organization run by a self-centered and narcissistic egomaniac who has only his own interests in mind. Whatever they started off and wanted to be has long since been lost now. Colluding with Russia and and doing the bidding of the extreme right and Trump in order to intervene in the American elections goes against everything good that wikileaks should have stood for, if indeed they stood for anything at all.

[zabadoh]

I doubt that Assange/Wikileaks is doing American far right or Russia's bidding. 

They just release whatever interesting lands in their box, a lot of which just happens to be coming from Russian state hackers right now.

It has included things like the Panama Papers, Snowden's stuff, and Chelsea Manning's stuff.

If anything, Assange's overhyping their underwhelming "October Surprise" leaks is damaging their own credibility.

[conman]

The latest insurance files posted by Wikileaks do not match the pre-commitment hashes they tweeted in October.

US Kerry [1]- 4bb96075acadc3d80b5ac872874c3037a386f4f595fe99e687439aabd0219809
UK FCO [2]- f33a6de5c627e3270ed3e02f62cd0c857467a780cf6123d2172d80d02a072f74
EC [3]- eae5c9b064ed649ba468f0800abf8b56ae5cfe355b93b1ce90a1b92a48a9ab72
sha256sum 2016-11-07_WL-Insurance_US.aes256 ab786b76a195cacde2d94506ca512ee950340f1404244312778144f67d4c8002
sha256sum 2016-11-07_WL-Insurance_UK.aes256 655821253135f8eabff54ec62c7f243a27d1d0b7037dc210f59267c43279a340
sha256sum 2016-11-07_WL-Insurance_EC.aes256 b231ccef70338a857e48984f0fd73ea920eff70ab6b593548b0adcbd1423b995
All previous insurance files match:
wlinsurance-20130815-A.aes256 [5],[6]
6688fffa9b39320e11b941f0004a3a76d49c7fb52434dab4d7d881dc2a2d7e02
wlinsurance-20130815-B.aes256 [5], [7]
3dcf2dda8fb24559935919fab9e5d7906c3b28476ffa0c5bb9c1d30fcb56e7a4
wlinsurance-20130815-C.aes256 [5], [8]
913a6ff8eca2b20d9d2aab594186346b6089c0fb9db12f64413643a8acadcfe3
insurance.aes256 [9], [10]
cce54d3a8af370213d23fcbfe8cddc8619a0734c
Note: All previous hashes match the encrypted data. You can try it yourself.
[1] https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/787777344740163584
[2] https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/787781046519693316
[3] https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/787781519951720449
[4] https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/796085225394536448?lang=en
[5] https://wiki.installgentoo.com/index.php/Wiki_Backups
[6] https://file.wikileaks.org/torrent/wlinsurance-20130815-A.aes256.torrent
[7] https://file.wikileaks.org/torrent/wlinsurance-20130815-B.aes256.torrent
[8] https://file.wikileaks.org/torrent/wlinsurance-20130815-C.aes256.torrent
[9] https://wikileaks.org/wiki/Afghan_War_Diary,_2004-2010
[10] https://web.archive.org/web/20100901162556/https://leakmirror.wikileaks.org/file/straw-glass-and-bottle/insurance.aes256
More info here: http://8ch.net/tech/res/679042.html

Sauce: https://np.reddit.com/r/crypto/comments/5cz1fz/wikileaks_latest_insurance_files_dont_match_hashes/

[conman]

The top comment on that thread is as follows:

"A few of us attentive sleuths knew something was wrong since the day Assange's internet was cut. But there was a very intense effort to censor any mention of this.
Now this part will sound ridiculous to anyone who wasn't paying very close attention, but Assange has not been seen or heard from since Oct 17th. Two interviews were put out recently that try to make it seem that they were done after Oct 17th but in reality they were not. If you don't dismiss what I am saying instantly and dig around, you will see that many people have been aware of this since the 17th but most attempts to discuss it were blacked out quickly. Now it seems more people are catching on so please help bring awareness to this and don't even take my word for it, but research it yourself."

[conman]

Timeline of events:

From Reddit

This timeline of events was put together by one of the users in our discord channel. Thanks for all the hard work!
22 August (2:47 AM): Attempted break-in at Assange's embassy home; Ecuador questions London's 'inadequate response'
7 October: Podestamails leaks first batch
12 October: Wikileaks announces: now publishing on a schedule created by our new impact maximizing publishing algorithm the "Stochastic Terminator"
12 October: Mike Cernovich tweets about getting info that 33K deleted emails exist
15 october (morning): WikiLeaks releases Hillary Clinton's Goldman Sachs transcripts.
15 october (Lunch): Pamela Anderson visits Assange
15 october: Cut off Assange's internet access 5:00 pm GMT
15/16 october (dawn): Wikileaks DNS Server was suddenly pointed elsewhere (not confirmed)
16 october (between 11:00pm /11:30 pm GMT): Wikileaks releases 3 
pre-commitments (1: Kerry; 2: Ecuador; 3: UK FCO)
17 October (6:33 am GMT): “Wikileaks announces the Julian Assange's internet link has been intentionally severed by a state party” and that “We have activated the appropriate contingency plans”.
17 october (8:27 pm GMT): on a second tweet (almost 14 hours later) announces that “We can confirm Ecuador cut off Assange's internet access Saturday (15 october), 5pm GMT, shortly after publication of Clinton's Goldman Sachs speeches.”
17 october: GUCCIFER_2 tweets: “i'm here and ready for new releases. already changed my location thanks @wikileaks for a good job!”
18 october: Wikileaks announces that : “Multiple US sources tell us John Kerry asked Ecuador to stop Assange from publishing Clinton docs during FARC peace negotiations”. 18 october: Wikileaks announces “The John Kerry private meeting with Ecuador was made on the sidelines of the negotiations which took place principally on Sep 26 in Colombia.” 18 october: Wikileaks announces that “A front has released through US Democratic media an elaborate story accusing Julian Assange of paedophillia & taking US$1million from Russia” – publishes all docs about this case
18 October: Ecuador admits to 'restricting' Assange communications over US election.
19 october: Craig Murray posts on his blog that “went to see Julian Assange for a whisky in the Ecuador Embassy” (….) “I left Julian after midnight. He is fit, well, sharp and in good spirits”.
20 october: Cryptome tweets “Wrong building for Assange's EC bolt hole. Orator perch still waving flag. 51°29'56.62" N 0°09'40.51" W”
20 october: Wikileaks announces “We have a surprise in store for @TimKaine and @DonnaBrazile.”
20 and 21 october: Wikileaks tweets with many spelling mistakes – “HELP HIM” code.
21 October: Dyn DDoS cyberattack
21 October: Wikileaks tweets “Mr. Assange is still alive and WikiLeaks is still publishing. We ask supporters to stop taking down the US internet. You proved your point”. 21 October: Wikileaks tweets: “The Obama administration should not have attempted to misuse its instruments of state to stop criticism of its ruling party candidate”.
21 October: Wikileaks posts photo of “Armed policed outside Embassy”
22 October: Wikileaks announces Stochastic Terminator Algorithm update (no explanation)
22 October: Gavin MacFadyen death 23 October: Wikileaks tweets “A bloody year for WikiLeaks: Jones/Ratner/Gavin”
23 October: Wikileaks announces that “We will release a statement tomorrow about Assange. Our editor is safe and still in full command despite reduced communications with staff.”
24 October: WikiLeaks publishes “Editorial Board statement on the status of Julian Assange, Ecuador and the US election”
24 October: Wikileaks publishes video Moore’s video(from June)
24 October: Wikileaks announces “poll”: “Thousands keep demanding Assange proof of life. Not unreasonable. He's in a tough spot and is WikiLeaks best known validator. Preference?” – Video option won. 24 october: Wikileaks announces that “While in London for #SHOCircus, Mark Halperin attempts to interview #wikileaks' founder julian assange (Video with “Assange´s reply: “Everything” about what the MSM is missing about Podesta leaks).
24 october: Assange lawyer ‪@BarnsGreg gives interview to “ABC Radio National2 (Australia)”, and states that spoke with Assange “yesterday”. (interview link not working anymore)
25 October: CISL Conference schedule and posters change (Announcement of Assange “live connection” from London”
25 October: Pamela Anderson tweets photo with toy "For Julian's cat"
26 October: Assange “speaks” at CISL (Argentina) – phone call.
26 Oct 2016: (9: 25 am): Kim DotCom insinuating wikileaks has the deleted emails
26 Oct 2016: (12:07 pm): Kim DotCom again insinuating wikileaks has the deleted emails
26 Oct 2016: (12:42 pm) Kim DotCom telling Gowdy and Trump how to legally obtain deleted 33k emails
26 Oct 2016(4:15 PM): Kim DotCom restating legal way to obtain emails so that when the release comes from wikileaks, to convict Hillary, congress / prosecutors can get valid evidence for US .gov
26 Oct 2016: Wikileaks tweets about Pardon for Manning and about Obama lying about Hillary's server - Podesta leaks starting to show Obama name.
27 october: WikileaksTaskForce tweets: “The video from #Assange's talk at @CISL_Argentina is legit. It was scheduled sometime ago. #CISL2016” 28 october: Wikileaks announces that “Sweden has rejected Mr. Assange's request to be escorted by police to the funeral of Gavin MacFadyen on Monday.”
28 october: Wikileaks releases “statement from Mr. Assange” about swedish decision.
28 October: FBI reopens hillary’s email case
29 October: Wikileaks tweets about John Pilger’s article “on Clinton, Trump, the media, WikiLeaks and war”, where Pilger states that “Assange knows the truth. And let me assure those who are concerned, he is well, and WikiLeaks is operating on all cylinders.”
30 October: Wikileaks announces “We commence PHASE 3 of our US election coverage next week.”
31 October: Wikileaks publish a “poll”: “Who will US president Barack Obama pardon (for distributing documents marked classified) on his way out of office? Chelsea Manning/Hillary Clinton/Julian Assange/Edward Snowden”

Sauce: https://np.reddit.com/r/WhereIsAssange/comments/5agvom/a_timeline_of_events/

So, where is Julian Assange?

[Yorkykopite]

So, where is Julian Assange?

In an Ecuadorian jail, too afraid to pick up the soap.

[classycarra]

So, where is Julian Assange?

hopefully on his way to sweden, to stand trial as he should have done years ago.

he's contributed to dethroning 'the establishment' in the states now, which he always emphasised was the reason he would't go on trial like normal people do, so surely he needn't be so afraid any more?

[conman]

In an Ecuadorian jail, too afraid to pick up the soap.

He doesn't appear to be anymore.

[conman]

hopefully on his way to sweden, to stand trial as he should have done years ago.

he's contributed to dethroning 'the establishment' in the states now, which he always emphasised was the reason he would't go on trial like normal people do, so surely he needn't be so afraid any more?

He likely would never have had a fair trial, but lets not get into that.

[Yorkykopite]

He likely would never have had a fair trial, but lets not get into that.

Why on earth not? Sweden is a liberal democracy with a long tradition of the rule of law and a strong commitment to human rights. It's not a banana fucking republic.

[JohnnoWhite]

hopefully on his way to sweden, to stand trial as he should have done years ago.

he's contributed to dethroning 'the establishment' in the states now, which he always emphasised was the reason he would't go on trial like normal people do, so surely he needn't be so afraid any more?

Why do you say this mate? He was set up by the CIA for "committing a rape" that even the woman who was supposed to be the victim of the rape denied to the Swedish police ever took place! Sweden itself had withdrawn the charges against him given that the victim announced there never was a rape so theoretically he as a Swedish citizen could have returned home to his wife and kids. But the US couldn't allow that and leaned on Sweden to "co-operate". He knew that Sweden would not stand against the demands for his extradition from the US hence he elected to request political asylum from Ecuador.
The US grand plan of course was to get him inside a jail - any fucking jail would have suited - and then apply for an extradition order to get him stateside.
Had it NOT been for the extraordinary courage of little Ecuador granting him asylum in their London embassy - standing firm in the face of enormous continuing political pressure by the US - be 100% assured that would have been the last the world would ever have seen or heard from Julian Assange. That kind of outcome is what is to be expected when corruption at the highest levels is made globally public. An international travesty.

[thisyearisouryear]

So, where is Julian Assange?

Well, according to few redditors - Raleigh, North Carolina.

[Alan_X]

We don't do conspiracy shite on here. Locked

[McrRed]

Why do you say this mate? He was set up by the CIA for "committing a rape" that even the woman who was supposed to be the victim of the rape denied to the Swedish police ever took place! Sweden itself had withdrawn the charges against him given that the victim announced there never was a rape so theoretically he as a Swedish citizen could have returned home to his wife and kids. But the US couldn't allow that and leaned on Sweden to "co-operate". He knew that Sweden would not stand against the demands for his extradition from the US hence he elected to request political asylum from Ecuador.
The US grand plan of course was to get him inside a jail - any fucking jail would have suited - and then apply for an extradition order to get him stateside.
Had it NOT been for the extraordinary courage of little Ecuador granting him asylum in their London embassy - standing firm in the face of enormous continuing political pressure by the US - be 100% assured that would have been the last the world would ever have seen or heard from Julian Assange. That kind of outcome is what is to be expected when corruption at the highest levels is made globally public. An international travesty.

Nice one johnno

[classycarra]

Why do you say this mate? He was set up by the CIA for "committing a rape" that even the woman who was supposed to be the victim of the rape denied to the Swedish police ever took place! Sweden itself had withdrawn the charges against him given that the victim announced there never was a rape so theoretically he as a Swedish citizen could have returned home to his wife and kids. But the US couldn't allow that and leaned on Sweden to "co-operate". He knew that Sweden would not stand against the demands for his extradition from the US hence he elected to request political asylum from Ecuador.
The US grand plan of course was to get him inside a jail - any fucking jail would have suited - and then apply for an extradition order to get him stateside.
Had it NOT been for the extraordinary courage of little Ecuador granting him asylum in their London embassy - standing firm in the face of enormous continuing political pressure by the US - be 100% assured that would have been the last the world would ever have seen or heard from Julian Assange. That kind of outcome is what is to be expected when corruption at the highest levels is made globally public. An international travesty.

i'm sorry to say this jonno, as i respect you, but that is absolute nonsense presented as fact.

i'd recommend you read up on the statements of the women involved, and of assange's defence attorney. his defence have admitted certain events took place, so please don't be so disrespectful to alleged victims of crime.

He likely would never have had a fair trial, but lets not get into that.

why wouldn't you want to get into it? what's your view of the swedish legal system? less trustworthy than julian assange, apparently.

do you understand extradition treaties? if so, i'm sure you'd recognise that it's simpler for the UK to extradite defendants to stand trial in the US than it is for sweden to do the same. pretending that sweden is more dangerous for him, on account of the US, is pulling the wool over your eyes. he takes his supporters/defenders for fools, and unfortunately even now many lap it up.

personally speaking, i would rather we continue to pursue justice in the manner we currently do (and likewise, with sweden's justice system). i don't particularly think changing the rule of law for one celebrity is a good precedent to set

[classycarra]

Why do you say this mate? He was set up by the CIA for "committing a rape" that even the woman who was supposed to be the victim of the rape denied to the Swedish police ever took place! Sweden itself had withdrawn the charges against him given that the victim announced there never was a rape so theoretically he as a Swedish citizen could have returned home to his wife and kids. But the US couldn't allow that and leaned on Sweden to "co-operate". He knew that Sweden would not stand against the demands for his extradition from the US hence he elected to request political asylum from Ecuador.
The US grand plan of course was to get him inside a jail - any fucking jail would have suited - and then apply for an extradition order to get him stateside.
Had it NOT been for the extraordinary courage of little Ecuador granting him asylum in their London embassy - standing firm in the face of enormous continuing political pressure by the US - be 100% assured that would have been the last the world would ever have seen or heard from Julian Assange. That kind of outcome is what is to be expected when corruption at the highest levels is made globally public. An international travesty.

sorry, i forgot to raise issue with this line of yours Jonno.

you imply that Ecuador's government offered a safehaven from undue criticism and threats against journalists, and that their actions were virtuous and courageous.

just to be clear, Ecuador's president and government is totally underserving of this praise.

ironically enough, you line about the 'kind of outcome expected when corruption at the highest levels is made globally public' seems to reflect president correa's response to journalistic criticism and accountability rather better than it reflects the US government's.

you can learn more about president correa's authoritarian penchant for criticising, threatening, imprisoning and beating journalists through the following organisations:

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/ecuador

https://www.hrw.org/americas/ecuador

https://www.cpj.org/americas/ecuador/

[Yorkykopite]

Well said Classycara.

I used to think it was ironic that Assange had sought refuge inside the embassy of one of the world's great intimidators and imprisoners of journalists. But now we know more about Assange's world view there is no irony at all. He's attracted to autocrats.

[JohnnoWhite]

sorry, i forgot to raise issue with this line of yours Jonno.

you imply that Ecuador's government offered a safehaven from undue criticism and threats against journalists, and that their actions were virtuous and courageous.

just to be clear, Ecuador's president and government is totally underserving of this praise.

ironically enough, you line about the 'kind of outcome expected when corruption at the highest levels is made globally public' seems to reflect president correa's response to journalistic criticism and accountability rather better than it reflects the US government's.

you can learn more about president correa's authoritarian penchant for criticising, threatening, imprisoning and beating journalists through the following organisations:

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/ecuador

https://www.hrw.org/americas/ecuador

https://www.cpj.org/americas/ecuador/

 I will in future spend some time looking in detail at the case. My primary reaction in leaning specifically toward defending this man came about from watching his 1-1 interview with a journalist I much respect (John Pilger). Whatever might be the motives of Ecuador for offering asylum to a Swede that appears to be public enemy No 1 in the US, I have no way of gauging. What I do know though is that all his professional life (and probably in his private life too) Pilger has been the stand-out journalist among global truth-seekers. So if Pilger spent 25 mins 1-1 with this enemy of the US, then there must have been a truth still to be uncovered. I know that Pilger examined many possible motivational reasons for the US establishment to be so hell bent on getting their hands on At the end, on the balance of probabilities, it came across that an injustice had been done.

Anyway, I've had enough of wrangling over situations that are clearly beyond our undoing or mending so no more posts for me. They are what they are - warts and all and each can form their view.

[Yorkykopite]

Would that be the same John Pilger who said Hillary Clinton was more dangerous than Trump?

[The Gulleysucker]

About forty five years ago I thought Pilger was pretty good, he was certainly refreshingly different from many of the reporters of the time.

As a teenager I remember his broadcasts from Vietnam and other assorted conflict zones in the latter part of the 60's and later on into the 70's, his campaigning regarding Indonesia and East Timor when he wrote in the Mirror.

But he seems a different person these days, whenever possible seeming to always try to portray the US as only ever having evil intent, and also uncritically backing anyone else, no matter how questionable, who opposes the US in any way.

It's all slightly bizarre, almost embarassing to the readers intelligence sometimes to read his stuff these days containing his often almost childlike claims.

Pilger once said here when criticising the report of John Sopel regarding a Nato strike on a hospital in Afghanistan..

'Serious journalism is about trying to set the record straight with compelling evidence. What is striking about Jon Sopel's report is that he offers not a glimpse of journalistic evidence to support his assertion...

Now I could pick other examples of his more recent work, but here's Pilger back in 2014 with an earlier apocalyptic message of impending world war (a recurring theme in much of his work) just as his more recent above, and yet doing the very same thing as he accused Sopel of doing.

...Having masterminded the coup in February against the democratically elected government in Kiev,
Washington’s planned seizure of Russia’s historic, legitimate warm-water naval base in Crimea failed.

 http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/05/14/a-world-war-is-beckoning/

Note that Pilger offers absolutely no evidence for this wild claim he makes, a claim that would have been an outright act of war, that the US seriously planned to seize Russia’s naval base in Crimea.

It seems that perhaps Sopel is not the only one adept at practicing Anti-Journalism as Pilger would put it.

So it's regrettable, but I find it difficult these days to take anything Pilger says with any sense of reliability, as while there may well be some truths somewhere in whatever he writes about, they are becoming difficult to spot when hidden behind his increasingly biased opinions that seem too often be based on his wishful conjecture.

I know and recognise that we can all change with time but sadly, and I genuinely really mean that, just don't believe he's the guy he once was.

[Alan_X]

Agree about Pilger - a very good journalist once upon a time but he's now become a parody.

[Alan_X]

<snip>

So, where is Julian Assange?

Please don't post this nonsense on here.

[kennedy81]

In my naivety, I had hoped wikileaks could become a force for good. Pretty obvious now that that's not the case.

[classycarra]

So it's regrettable, but I find it difficult these days to take anything Pilger says with any sense of reliability, as while there may well be some truths somewhere in whatever he writes about, they are becoming difficult to spot when hidden behind his increasingly biased opinions that seem too often be based on his wishful conjecture.

I know and recognise that we can all change with time but sadly, and I genuinely really mean that, just don't believe he's the guy he once was.

This is an excellent post. I'm not old enough to remember his good days, so I don't hold in the same respect many (previously) did.

These days Pilger is transparently bias, at best, and a terrible liar and distorter of truths at worst. Only a few weeks ago he falsely claimed that Milosevic had been exonerated of his charges of war crimes.

[The Gulleysucker]

In my naivety, I had hoped wikileaks could become a force for good. Pretty obvious now that that's not the case.

You're not the only one.

While I like to think the original intent perhaps had a noble purpose and is something that undoubtedly has merit amongst the checks and balances of a society, the realisation is now disappointing.

I think what CorkBoy said at the top of the page probably accurately sums up what it has become, or certainly the perception of it....

I agree but Assange has become the message, rather than the bearer, which is unfortunate (and possibly deliberate).

[B0151?]

It's one thing that they (or Assange) had a self-admitted personal grudge against Clinton, but the way they were rampantly promoting blatant conspiracy nonsense just made them lose their credibility altogether for me. I don't think they can ever regain that because I'll be questioning anything that comes out from them now.