CNN: US prepares charges to seek arrest of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

[Felya]

It's not really a Cold War when the only people that think they are in it are conspiracy theorists.

We had Russian spies kicked in 2010 and had a prisoner exchange as result. The only thing that changed from then to now, to make it a conspiracy theory, is Trump. There is no other factor, from motive to the type of spying, that has changed from 2010 and now, other than Trump. So, if in 2010, when these spies were busted, you were playing the same tune, congratulations! If not, think about exactly what changed...

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So how did Russia get him before us, our capabilities have to be tenfold compared to theirs, maybe more.

What do you mean by get him? There is nothing to get. Assange has stated his target is the US, because the injustice in places like China and Russia are easier to fight. He then announced his campaign against google...

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The news here is what would 2016 Trump tweet about the 2017 President Trump? The US going after Assange is not shocking, how fast Trump got lost in the Presidential machine is.

That Trump is the greatest thing ever and then threaten to change liable laws, so his past cannot be shown. This is a guy who called Clinton era the most prosperous ever, even better than Reagan. Called Paula Jones a lying, horrible human being. Wanted to run as an independent with Oprah as his running mate. This isn't a consistent human being at all... we know how he reacts to him self from the past... claim greatness, deny it happened, threaten to sue...

[PosPosPos]

>People think Assange is under Putin.

It's quite sad that it's gotten to the point of Cold-War Hysteria again when anyone the losing side dislikes is suddenly a Russian agent.

I wonder how long until People start calling Tom Brady a Russian Spy trying to infiltrate Murican Foosball because he's friends with Trump.

OMG GUYS! NEW CNN ARTICLE! - NEW REPORT FROM ANONYMOUS OFFICIALS PUTIN DEFLATED TOM BRADY'S BALL

Uh what?

I guess this is how you know Trumpets are desperate when they start blaming liberals and independents for what other Trumpets have done - Mike Pompeo, Jeff Sessions and Peter King are all Republicans.

Or is this like some kind of Freudian slip that unwittingly admits that Trumpets are the "losing side"?

Infracted - Minor Flaming

[Tijuana]

I think this must be restated. Absolutely. Remarkable, isn't it, that it's yet another week and yet another major Trump-Russia figure facing potential prosecution.

Last week was Carter Page. The week before that was Paul Manafort. The week before that was Roger stone. The week before that was Michael Flynn.

It's all just circling the great orange con-artist.

Skroe you are a smart guy, for an establishment/big government/pseudo Conservative/John McCain/Lindsey Grahamnesty type.

Answer me this: what does Russia gain from involving Trump in their plans to destroy Hillary?

They would have done all this, regardless of who the nominee is, that much is clear. What need would there be for a collusion between these two camps? Is Russia unaware of how and when to release dirt? Surely everyone, in every country, knows the time to release dirt is right before the election, or right after a bad news event for the other party. Both data dumps happened in this manner.

Why involve Trump in their scheme? Sure, they would want a puppet but, how is he of any help to them, and how are they of any help to him during the election? It seems completely illogical that, were there no collusion, these events would not have played out exactly as they did.

There is no logical reason for Trump to collude with Russia, in order to get them to do something they were already going to to do.

There is no logical reason for Russia to collude with Trump, in order to get him to do something he was already trying to do: win.

There is no logical reason for them to work together, and risk the fallout, in order to ensure both actors did something that they already wanted anyway.

The only logical conclusion, is that at best, their goals were aligned.

[Venant]

Not sure what they are going to charge Assange with, he merely published documents that were taken by another party. If they are going to go down this street, they should just go round up everyone who works at the NYT/WAPO/AP/Reuters and everyone else who is writing stories about classified information based upon 'anonymous sources'.

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Skroe you are a smart guy, for an establishment/big government/pseudo Conservative/John McCain/Lindsey Grahamnesty type.

I'm pretty sure he is a Marxist who is using that as a cover, pretty standard Alinsky tactics

[Joni85]

Not sure what they are going to charge Assange with, he merely published documents that were taken by another party. If they are going to go down this street, they should just go round up everyone who works at the NYT/WAPO/AP/Reuters and everyone else who is writing stories about classified information based upon 'anonymous sources'.

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I'm pretty sure he is a Marxist who is using that as a cover, pretty standard Alinsky tactics

From the CNN article

"He said WikiLeaks "directed Chelsea Manning to intercept specific secret information, and it overwhelmingly focuses on the United States."

Assuming they have proof of that, then wikileaks goes from a publisher, to a co-conspirator (directing someone to find specific info vs publishing info given)

[Jastall]

His entire platform and actions have been targeting western democracy after Putin threatened to bury him years ago when Wikileaks was a bit more "noble" and hit everyone indiscriminately based on what documents they received. He disappeared after those threats, reemerged on Russian state sponsored television, and has been using Wikileaks to push a pro Russian agenda since, only attacking "western democracies" and not a single criticism or leak piece on Russia.

Pompeo, a Trump guy, even made a formal declaration that Wikileaks and Julian Assange have become state sponsored actors.

edited in some clarifications and such

I don't think Assange is a Russian stooge.

But he IS a pseudo-anarchist who goes after the biggest fish in the pond. And that is the US presently. And he's not too much of an ideologue that he would avoid making some sort of deal with the Kremlin (or representatives of such) if he felt it suits his agenda.

I don't really have proof to back up these statements. But as much as I'm unwilling to crucify Assange just because he was unkind to Western democracy, I'm also not dumb enough to believe he's an angel who only seeks free information for all. He's definitely not above making deals with some actors if it gets him something he wants.

Him dodging his own promise when Obama gave Manning clemency also didn't do much to elevate my opinion of Assange.

[Tijuana]

Not sure what they are going to charge Assange with, he merely published documents that were taken by another party. If they are going to go down this street, they should just go round up everyone who works at the NYT/WAPO/AP/Reuters and everyone else who is writing stories about classified information based upon 'anonymous sources'.

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I'm pretty sure he is a Marxist who is using that as a cover, pretty standard Alinsky tactics

Well, that's certainly an interesting theory. I have yet to see him get it right, when espousing his Conservative ideas. They sound more to me like what Liberals think Conservatives think. Then again, I get the same feeling when I hear McCain and Grahamnesty speak.

[Deleted]

I thought conspiracies were meant to be banned. It's like Russians are the new aliens.

[Super Kami Dende]

We had Russian spies kicked in 2010 and had a prisoner exchange as result. The only thing that changed from then to now, to make it a conspiracy theory, is Trump. There is no other factor, from motive to the type of spying, that has changed from 2010 and now, other than Trump. So, if in 2010, when these spies were busted, you were playing the same tune, congratulations! If not, think about exactly what changed...

Spies between Countries =/= Cold War. Literally every Country Spies on eachother.

We found out America was Spying on us in Australia. Were we suddenly in a War? Nah. If Allies Spy on each other it is silly to assume that a few spies amounts to a Cold War reemergence.

[Skroe]

It's not really a Cold War when the only people that think they are in it are conspiracy theorists.

The Pentagon, Western Intelligence Agencies and governments are treating it exactly like one.



It's pretty much just the Trumpkins that haven't caught up, because they'd do anything to protect their orange god.

[Skroe]

Of course I am, and a military veteran.

Attempting to pry the hand of the West off your neck isn't exactly what anyone except those looking to keep their hand there an act of aggression. It's amusing when people like you act holier than thou like we haven't been using every means at our disposal to disrupt, thwart and also simultaneously steer Russia and the rest of the world.

Except RUssia hasn't been doing that. It's been openly expansionist and undermining its neighbors security. This isn't simply a matter of Russia not playing ball.

We can look at it from a political perspective or a military perspective.

Politically Russia has been supporting extremist - often (but not exclusively) far right groups in Europe, in an attempt to undermine the EU, which it regards as an existential threat.

Militarily, when Russia withdrew from the the CFE Treaty, and since it's been openly violating the INF Treaty... that has a direct impact on it's neighbors as Russia cannot mobilize ground forces to invade America nor can Intermediate Range missiles reach north America. But they can European cities and military installations.

That's not merely "prying". That's antagonism.

Then again you're on record scoffing at the entire Manifest Destiny impetus and the actual baked in necessity for an enemy to demonize and focus the American people against that exists in our political and business infrastructure.

I'm a non-interventionist by in large, so I generally would prefer the against US being in any conflict, especially with near-peer countries. But that said, I also believe that when we are, it shouldn't be a fair fight and we should be very clear eyed about it.

Russia's actions the past few years, are clear enough.

We shouldn't be in Syria, we shouldn't have fucked up Libya nor half of the other places we have. That both branches of the Neo tree (Lib/Con) not only think it's necessary but are in a constant state of flux over just how much to fuck up, where and what for is the problem.

I agree, we shouldn't be in Syria. I would not advocate doing more in Syria than we've done. And Libya was mostly a french/british thing.

Frankly the thing you don't get about the alt right or however you want to call them is they're not interested in sending their people or their resources to foreign lands to kill and disrupt people and their society for no reason that matters to them. They'd be able to exist just fine without all the 7 degrees of social and financial separation you'd want to bring up, but I seriously doubt you would be able to.

That's not just an alt-right thing. Many liberals, consservatives and moderates believe that too.

What the alt-right DOES believe is that, against all odds, we should turn a blind eye to Russian aggression, or prefer Russia over Europe. That's new, and it's nuts.

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Being Allies with Iran would have made a lot more sense than being allies with the Saudis.

Really? How do you figure that.

- Saudi Arabia is more strategically located than Iran
- Saudi Arabia is the world's second largest oil producer.
- Saudi Arabia is the home of Sunni Islam, which most muslims in the world are
- Saud Arabia is the de facto leader of the Gulf Arabs (Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Jordan to a degree) and as it goes, they all go. Iran leads nobody.

Iran's greatest enemy is Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's greatest enemy is Iran. Everything else betwen those two countries, including the United States's involvement in the region, is noise compared to that rivalry, which is religious, historic, economic, ethnic and geopolitical. It's as bad as it gets.

So we have to pick one. And being friends with Saudi Arabia just gets us more.

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Russia and China both realized early on that technology would be a good avenue to help equalize the disparity the emerging superpowers have with the U.S. militarily and otherwise.. America failed to realize this, at least to the extent that Russia and China did and we're playing catch up since, especially in cyber warfare.
Russia especially has been setting up networks of hackers, providing them drugs, booze, and prostitutes and paying them nicely. Just so long as they remember who the hand is that feeds them. We lost "some" of the early talent in cyber crime because basically Russia was setting up these networks instead of putting them in prison.

The Third Offset strategy will rectify that (to a degree it already ahs), as is the US setting up of Cyber Command, which is an ongoing process. The US was slow to take it seriously.

But the US needs to absolutely do what it and Israel did in Iran a few years back and start killing off Russian scientists / hackers.

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It's not you going anyway? Let some poor American soldier deal with it. Fuck them am I right? Next life they should go to school so they can be like you.

Who said anything about a hot war? You're binary it's cute.

I dont want bombs to drop on Russia. I don't want to saber rattle. I want to see Russia thrown out of Swift. I want Russian standard of living reduced back to 1995 levels.


You can't get into a military conflict with Russia. But there is much more we can and should do.

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So how did Russia get him before us, our capabilities have to be tenfold compared to theirs, maybe more.

Well lots of reasons, but one reason is the CIA is kind of a victim of it's own success. What success? The drone.

Let us remember that the RQ-1 Predator started as a CIA program and that drone warfare as we know it, though now moved in many respects to the Air Force, Army and Navy, had it's birth in the 1990s as a CIA program. And it was the CIA that first strapped a hellfire missile to it (litterally bolted a launcher on and rigged a firing mechanism). And most of the biggest catches of Terrorists via drone, have been done by the CIA.

So what's happened? Over the past 15 years the CIA became basically the paramilitary (think Afghanistan trainers) and Drone house. It got out of the business of spying against other powerful countries as it had.

The CIA is currently undergoing a reorganization to split apart parts of the agency in order to do both. But it's a work in progress.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cia-dire...of-spy-agency/

So the short version is "the success of the drone and focus on Terrorism lead to CIA's skill's atrophying".

[Deleted]

I feel sorry for your parents skroe. I really really do. To see their son evolve into such a hate filled, arrogant/ignorant forum warrior, with total disregard towards humanity, must be pretty shocking. An evil version of that Sheldon dude from the big bang theory.

You're the worst America can offer to the world skroe. No one needs you or your ideology. Not the world, not america. Remember that all the time. You're a corrupted cell, a twisted expression of everything we've done wrong in modern society.


[Infracted]

[Skroe]

I feel sorry for your parents skroe. I really really do. To see their son evolve into such a hate filled, arrogant/ignorant forum warrior, with total disregard towards humanity, must be pretty shocking. An evil version of that Sheldon dude from the big bang theory.

Who is bitter? It's 2017 and Sanctions... which I never expected to last more than year, still stand... and may even expand. The West is aligned against Russia unlike it's been in decades. American hostility towards Russia is at an all time high. Republicans continue to be anti-Russia. And Democrats will never forgive Russia for 2016.

So I ask again, how can I be bitter? My political agenda has won out. Russia is so radioactive that Trump can't do anything remotely reconcilatory. The next step is to tighten the noose further.

You're the worst America can offer to the world skroe. No one needs you or your ideology. Not the world, not america. Remember that all the time.

Yeah I only argue for the perspective that's made the US the richest and most powerful political entity in human history, and globally has lead to an unparalleled time for human liberty, well-being and democracy. I really feel I'm in the wrong... you know... looking at our hugely successful track record.

Give me a break.

Well you're lucky, you'll be without me through Monday. Got the a presentation tomorrow afternoon and Science March to go to with my lab team.

Was just about to get up and get some shut-eyebut I saw your well wishing <3

[jdbond592]

So Trump and Hannity will speak in favor of Assange, right? They are on video calling him a hero.

[Orbitus]

I thought conspiracies were meant to be banned. It's like Russians are the new aliens.

Well, this isn't a conspiracy theory. A conspiracy theory doesn't have evidence to support it. This does. Just because you plug your ears and close your eyes, doesn't make it go away.

[Mormolyce]

Guess Republicans aren't the only ones finding out how much they got lied to. Kek.

Great news. Now, let's see how long Russia's little puppet denies us extradition.

I'm sorry, are you referring to Trump or Assange here?

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I thought conspiracies were meant to be banned. It's like Russians are the new aliens.

Yeah, Russia is a conspiracy theory. Pizzagate is real.

I feel sorry for your parents skroe. I really really do. To see their son evolve into such a hate filled, arrogant/ignorant forum warrior, with total disregard towards humanity, must be pretty shocking. An evil version of that Sheldon dude from the big bang theory.

You're the worst America can offer to the world skroe. No one needs you or your ideology. Not the world, not america. Remember that all the time. You're a corrupted cell, a twisted expression of everything we've done wrong in modern society.

Don't you think you're being a bit harsh on conservative ideology?

[zmp]

Killary Killton must see this as great news.

[Deleted]

Guess Republicans aren't the only ones finding out how much they got lied to. Kek.



I'm sorry, are you referring to Trump or Assange here?

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Yeah, Russia is a conspiracy theory. Pizzagate is real.



Don't you think you're being a bit harsh on conservative ideology?

He's not conservative. Ann coulter is conservative. He's a twisted cell. Different package altogether.
Do you know about project mkultra? Well he's the same guys behind project mkultra. Overfunded lobby let loose at random on society. What he's advocating goes against his country and his people.

[Mormolyce]

He's not conservative. Ann coulter is conservative.

You're confused "conservative" with "partisan shill".

[Deleted]

You're confused "conservative" with "partisan shill".

That's irrelevant to the discussion at hand.