US rejects Australia’s calls to end pursuit of WikiLeaks

When you're in prison indefinitely without trial, I don't think the location, type, form, or administrative classification really matters that much when you can't be with your family.

He's fighting extradition, sure, but it's extradition to a place where Manning was approximately tortured to death (she attempted suicide multiple times), so it's not really relevant.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/kidnapping-assassination-and-a-lon...

But I still think the leaker was wise to remain anonymous.

Are you from the Berenstein alternate reality? Do we have access to entirely-separate streams of media? No president in the united states has EVER avoided negative media coverage.

I can't believe this narrative is still repeated. "influence" can mean almost anything. In the headliner 2016 story, it meant a few based Russian organizations bought several million dollars of targeted Facebook ads. That's what broke democracy I guess.

In Assange's case it means he released existing emails which reflected negatively on a candidate. In that past most of his released material has negatively reflected on republicans.

The US has an interest in, and is "influencing" foreign election 24/7 365.

Your comment is just muddying the waters with a strawman: "someone being a saint" to avoid the very true fact that Assange is persecuted and imprisoned for being adversarial to the government and exposing corruption. It's very simple.

As for influencing US elections, you should look into the CIA/FBI and your own corrupt political parties that censor left and right when truths that are inconvenient appear. Oh, who would've thought, exactly like in Assange's case.

The whole accusing someone of Russia is just so disingenuous and time and time again (russiagate, Hunter's laptop, etc) it's shown to be absolute bullshit, that is happily reproduced by the bought and paid for media, who has ex CIA people happily being panelists and commentators.

It's so ridiculous and your comment extremely low effort.

It is more likely pure fear. If current trends continue, at some point Australia'll have to knuckle under and start aligning ourselves with Chinese policy or get squished by them. And If the US/South America dynamic is any standard to go by, they'll probably start taking a more active role in moderating Australian politics which isn't welcome to the current politicians.

One issue Australians have is their vastly inferior (in general) level of rhetorical facility on these matters, as compared to Chinese. We just don’t have the quality of critical thought that many young Chinese are displaying. This sounds ridiculous, I know, but again it’s true.

If Australia is going to effectively think about, and eventually negotiate, its place in the changing order, its citizens need to get a lot more cosmopolitan, critical and perceptive about international affairs.

For educated Chinese, I suspect thinking critically about international perceptions and power (and possibly even relations) is almost second nature: it makes sense to have it as a National pastime for an emerging power.

Australians need to recognize the necessity of this for their own position, too, and work to let go of the limiting policy dogma that continues to constrain and limit their political thinking.

It may not be too useful to promote Paul Keating as a role model for this type of critical faculty as his stances will provoke too much opposition for people to want to admire or follow him. Yet the truth is his kind of contrarian policy thinking is exactly more of what Australian needs, even if of not exactly the same flavor.

Unfortunately, we’ve been a victim of our own success, and our economic buffer will conceivably for the midterm, insulate us from the urgent need to develop the critical faculties that are so essential to our long-term future.

In other words, people can say “why do I need to rethink it? we’re doing great.”

Did it once already:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/23/gough-...

Edit: this is a joke about our National Security Laws and frivolous use of Gag Orders. Plus the AFP raiding journalists on a whim

While it's true that Australia is a minnow compared to the US, it doesn't mean that it can't influence the US, it just means it can't coerce it, which no one can anyway.

Australia has done well so far by being a "middle power" and using diplomacy and statecraft. That's where its future lies. Everyone has to deal with the enormous power of the US, it's much better to do it as a "good friend".

But yeah any amount of reading about the CIA in Aus, especially 1975 stuff, makes the power relationship clear.

The Aukus deal is completely crazy. Australia is paying the US to build their own shipyards in the hopes that they get the right to share OLD submarines with the UK.

> “Now some people say there’s an alternative: you can go with China,” said Mearsheimer. “You have a choice here: you can go with China rather the United States. There’s two things I’ll say about that. Number one, if you go with China, you want to understand you are our enemy. You are then deciding to become an enemy of the United States. Because again, we’re talking about an intense security competition.”

> “You’re either with us or against us,” he continued. “And if you’re trading extensively with China, and you’re friendly with China, you’re undermining the United States in this security competition. You’re feeding the beast, from our perspective. And that is not going to make us happy. And when we are not happy you do not want to underestimate how nasty we can be. Just ask Fidel Castro.”

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2023/03/14/on-war-with-china-au...

Obviously, it would benefit Australia to keep a good relationship with the US, but that doesn't mean they have to acquiesce to every American demand. What is the US going to do? Find another Australia?

There are many countries that don't share much of the nebulous "values" with America yet enjoy a membership of US-led military alliances, because they're important enough. (Might not be a great example, but see Turkey.)

No? Then why is it important?

You were right, it is a fig leaf for ones and a strawman for others.

The main problem, we as a society have, is a embassing lack of problem awareness! Guess what wikileaks does, i beg you.

See about every whistleblower of the last decade and a half.

McAfee, Assange, Snowden... and yet not one official ousted or inconvenienced. Astonishing really.

Australia potentially has more value to the US than vice versa.