British Judge Says Julian Assange ‘May’ Be Released

There is a definite concern with respect to the last paragraph above:

Assange in the Grasp of U.S. Empire

Submitted by kevinzeese on Thu, 2010-12-09 18:27

Close Allies Hold Journalist While U.S. Comes Up With Charges and Plans Extradition

People Organizing and Acting to Support WikiLeaks

Julian Assange has entered the firm embrace of the U.S. Empire after publishing diplomatic cables that embarrassed the United States and many countries around the world. Great Britain and Sweden are close U.S. allies who have started a Kabuki False Justice Dance that will deliver him to the U.S. war on terror courts which will treat him like an enemy combatant who committed espionage, when in fact he is an independent journalist and what he did was done by newspapers around the world.

The diplomatic cables and Afghan and Iraq war diaries show Assange is dealing with countries that use threats and blackmail to get their way, look the other way or participate in torture, routinely violate laws and lie to their people. Assange knew that but did not run and hide. As soon as a valid arrest warrant existed his lawyers arranged his voluntary arrest. He demonstrated he wanted to face the charges rather than flee. Yet, in a seemingly pre-determined result, the magistrate held him without bond despite more then 100,000 GBP offered for bail saying the “turn yourself in Assange” was a threat to flee. How can they say such absurdities with a straight face?

But, it is likely this mock process will embarrass the justice systems of Great Britain, Sweden and the United States. The choreography will become more and more evident as Assange goes through the system. Sweden’s on-again-off-again prosecution dismissed by three different Swedish prosecutors, sometimes including rape, sometimes not, sometimes being dropped all together is already raising questions and was so flawed they had a hard time getting a legitimate arrest warrant.. It does not help that one of the woman had CIA connections and bragged about her relationship with Assange in tweets she tried to erase and held a party with him the day after, among other incidents that are inconsistent with rape. She even published a 7 step program for legal revenge against lovers. What we know of the story so far seems to be two one night stands of consensual sex gone badly but perhaps more will be unveiled in court.

Now, that Attorney General Holder has brought the little-used Espionage Act into play, the world will see the U.S. justice system on display. When I graduated law school in 1980, the United States had a justice system of which Americans could be proud. Now after decades of erosion, it is sadly, embarrassing. Assange is likely to be held in solitary, have very limited access to evidence against him and his conversations with lawyers will be recorded – American justice is not what it used to be. . .  .

OMG — This revelation is completely sickening (although it’s hard to be surprised by much of anything anymore) — how more base can we become?

Wikileaks Reveals U.S. Tax Dollars Fund Child Sex Slavery in Afghanistan

by Amanda Kloer December 08, 2010 11:20 AM (PT)

Topics: Child Prostitution, Child Trafficking

The now infamous Wikileaks recently released a cable from Afghanistan revealing U.S. government contractor DynCorp threw a party for Afghan security recruits featuring trafficked boys as the entertainment. Bacha bazi is the Afghan tradition of “boy play” where young boys are dressed up in women’s clothing, forced to dance for leering men, and then sold for sex to the highest bidder. Apparently this is the sort of “entertainment” funded by your tax dollars when DynCorp is in charge of security in Afghanistan. . . . .

Additional articles on the topic based on a cable from Wikileaksby Jason Linkins, Dec. 8th, 2010

“WikiLeaks: U.S. Military Contractors In Afghanistan Hired Child Prostitutes

WikiLeaks Reveals That Military Contractors Have Not Lost Their Taste For Child Prostitutes”