Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder hits out at rape smears as Swedish warrant for his arrest is withd

[kpete]

Source: Guardian UK


Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder hits out at rape smears as Swedish warrant for his arrest is withdrawn

Julian Assange's supporters are quick to point the finger at American intelligence agencies and say they were expecting slurs after he posted 77,000 Afghanistan war documents online

Julian Assange, the secretive founder of WikiLeaks, the website behind the biggest leak of US military documents in history, was the subject of conspiracy theories last night after prosecutors withdrew a warrant for his arrest in connection with rape and molestation allegations.

On Friday a spokeswoman for the Swedish prosecutors' office in Stockholm confirmed an arrest warrant for Assange had been issued in absentia and urged him to "contact police so that he can be confronted with the suspicions".

According to Expressen, a Swedish newspaper, the 39-year-old Australian had been wanted in connection with two separate incidents. The first involved a woman from Stockholm who reportedly accused him of "molestation". The second involved a woman from Enköping, about an hour's drive west from Stockholm, who had apparently accused Assange of rape. The warrant was withdrawn yesterday afternoon.

Assange claimed he was the victim of a smear campaign. He denied the charges on WikiLeaks's Twitter page, saying they were "without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing".


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/22/julian-assange-wikileaks-afghanistan-logs

[Downwinder]

1. Well I guess if the Rec won't work, maybe the comment won't disappear.

Net recommendation: 0 votes (Your vote: +1)

Didn't I see a comment on another thread about 1 > 0 ? I don't think that applies to Recs.

[xocet]

2. Good.

It is too bad that the Department of Justice cannot be bothered with investigating Bush, Cheney et al. (Apparently, looking back is just too difficult.)

...
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal claimed both the US Defence and Justice departments were exploring legal options for prosecuting Assange and others on grounds that they encouraged the theft of government property.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/22/julian-assange-wikileaks-afghanistan-logs

[yurbud]

3. Isn't this what happened to Scott Ritter too? They ginned up some sex charges against him

to undermine his credibility as a whistleblower, but the message was bigger than the messenger.

Even if the smear Assange out of his reputation, the good done by Wikileaks will stand.

[Pavulon]

4. Just curious, what has wikileaks done

that has changed the war or could be classified as "good"?

[yurbud]

6. mostly confirmed what was already in the press but not from official sources.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sudopod]

9. It isn't like goat herders are people, after all.

By goat herders, I mean civilians.

[ronnie624]

33. Apparently, he does not even understand how revealing that comment is. n/t

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sabrina 1]

42. What an ignorant statement, speaking of ignorance. I don't know

if your intention is to try to shock people with your constant comments delighting in the deaths of innocent people, and your bigoted name-calling of them (goat-herders) or if this is really what you believe, either way your comments would be far better received on some war-mongering rightwing board, just FYI, not that I personally don't thing you realize that.

Every civilian killed is murder in either of these two wars. And the only 'ignorance' involved is represented by your disgusting comments promoting the same old bigoted right wing sliming of an entire population, who apparently you have decided are the 'other'. This attitude towards another ethnic group many decades ago led to the slaughter of millions of people.

[Pavulon]

47. See thats oped not reality. Murder is a technical thing, it does not mean "bad"

and I dont like the war. bottom line is that the Executive branch (you voted for them) is currently authorizing lethal operations globally. It may be a camera that does a facial recognition compare then fires a missile, but it is no different than a bullet. That person is dead. We killed them.

Killing people who are actively funding and trying to run operations like the USS Cole, Bali bombing, US embassy bombings, and 9/11 is legal and will continue. They are signed off by the executive and congress is briefed and funds them.

Now be sure you understand Democrats elected are protecting the interests of the United States by killing these people. This is not a game, and silly words do not alter that reality.

What they have done in Afghanistan is focus force on the people running logistics, and planning, rather than just killing meat puppets with infantry.

This is not right wing but the core function of the government and has been used by both parties for a very long time.

Personally I think it is wasteful to kill enemy infantry (goat herders) they are plentiful and that strategy will fail. It is far more efficient to kill enemy logistics and planning guys. That involves people globally. Hence the recent news Yemen.

Now focus, Democrats (by proxy) you elected are acting to protect American lives by killing people who would repeat Bali, Cole, or 9/11. That is reality and how representative democracy functions.

[sabrina 1]

61. Kill, kill, kill. Yes, that's kept us so safe from

terror. That's what got us 9/11 in the first place.

And killing people without trial, unless directly engaged in battle is against our Constitution no matter how you try to change it.

You are not telling me anything I do not know about the warmongering of both parties, and I am thoroughly disgusted by Democrats as much if not more than by Republicans for their support for these wars.

Your whole premise is nonsense. Every country experiences terrorist attacks but none to go to war over them. Nor did we! Do you think we are stupid? We are at war in the ME and Afghanistan for OIL and to enrich corrupt War Profiteers and everyone knows it!

So stop with the propaganda. These wars do not make America safe, they do the exact opposite and they are not for our benefit, they are to benefit the War Machine.

I do not want anyone killing anyone on my behalf. And we were lied into both of these wars. It is you who are naive, who have fallen for the macho 'we're so great, look how tough we are' garbage dished out by Fox and the rest of our propaganda media.

No one was planning to invade this country. More Americans are killed from a lack of Health Care (44,000 per year) than any terrorist could dream of.

Go tell your War fairy tales to Fox viewers who are far more likely to be aroused by your militaristic tales of 'greatness'.

It is weakness of the most despicable kind to engage in 'wars' against nations, like Iraq and Afghanistan who are basically unarmed. And we don't look too good considering it's taken nearly a decade to try to 'win' against these little countries.

This country needs to stop its war games, bring home the troops and start fighting for its people right here where they are dying from the corruption and the addiction to war rather than health care.

Don't please try to tell anyone with have a brain cell functioning that this government, including Democrats cares about the American people and is fighting these wars for their 'safety'. I am afraid they are going to make so many enemies for us that they endanger the American people with their stupidity and their macho, cowardly wars which WE are paying for and from which billions of our money is missing.

[Pavulon]

65. And the first bombing at the WTC?

brought to you by religious fanatics. Folks like that dont settle for a hug and a wa we pop. Iraq is a massive waste, there is no oil profit paying the US back for money spent. There was no reason to be there as no American interest was served there. Afghanistan is a shithole and will remain a shithole until time ends because it has nothing of value to take. The neglect of the political needs there have made "winning" far more complex.

If Afghanistan did hold some magical oil reserve the Chinese would have bought it up like they did in Sudan. Don't tell me you are one of those "piper" people who think we spent tens of billions to build some magic pipe in a place with no roads.

Pacifism is your choice but it is not "right wing" to use lethal force against people who plan new uss coles, bali bombings, and embassy bombings.

There is no rule that states that the US must be invaded to fight a war. The us was not invaded in either ww1 or 2 and over 100 million people died in those conflicts.

As for killing american citizens fighting on the side of the enemy the president set. He can turn himself in and get a trial or eventually he will be killed. He cant have it both ways.

As for force it is far more difficult to "win" a political action in places where people where funny hats than it is to destroy a nation.

[sabrina 1]

68. More nonsense from you.

Either you do not the history that brought about the attacks on the Cole, the WTC and the embassies, or you are ignoring it. Whenever a country interferes in the affairs of another, there are consequences, it's called 'blowback'.

Political assassinations are illegal in this country and according to International law. So keep trying to justify it if you insist.

Afghanistan was planned long before 9/11 as a strategic route to what was thought to be the world's last oil resources in the Caspian Sea. And was reported years before the event. Wake up. 9/11 was just the excuse to put military bases in all the surrounding countries. Russia and China are the U.S. and Britain et al are all involved in that race.

Instead of spending the time and money on developing alternative energy we decided to beat the rest of the world by occupying Afghanistan. So far it doesn't seem to be working out very well. As predicted.

As for Iraq, again you show your ignorance of the facts. The Mission was accomplished when the puppet government signed over over 80% of its oil resources to Multi-national oil corps. And we got to spend lots of money on WMDs and make sure the arms business remained profitable.

'Winning' in Iraq and Afghanistan means that the U.S. has control of two strategic areas of the world where resources are available and we won't be leaving for a long, long time.

War is primitive, it is a relic of the past. China is accomplishing the same goals by quietly making deals with oil producing countries like Venezuela, which we could have done also, but we are living in a past where war was the only option. Maybe when we grow up, we'll find a better way to deal with countries that have resources we need.

[Pavulon]

69. China is a growing economy

and just like the US uses money and power to do business. They have no restraint in their system and are far more "capitalistic" than the US. Money is king there.

Which specific event caused the cole, bali, and embassy bombings? GW1? US Saudi relations? Killing al-qeida guys is not political. Killing heads of state is illegal (by executive order).

I do agree that alternative energy is crucial. I think the us should begin work on 50 reactor sites now. Standardize and build, good jobs, many union that can not be outsourced to china.

We haven't spent much on WMD in quite a while. The systems to deliver them are modified on occasion (F22, B2, Ohio Class) but the VAST majority of money we spend is on conventional systems.

War is simply an extension of negotiation into physical force. It will be around as long as people exist.

Rather than killing meatpuppets money is better spent killing money guys, logistics and planning, and command and control. That is an important part of conflict.

[earcandle]

71. denial is a crocodile about to be eaten by forbidden fruits...

[liberation]

90. Probably playing too many video games is not the best way to understand how reality works...

... you are all over the map with your logical dissonance, dude.

LOL.

[Pavulon]

95. LOL, what an informative post. Other than being insulting do you have content to post?

or care to actually say something that you could back with fact?

[dbmk]

107. Not to rain to much on your parade, but:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Afghanistan_Pipeline

[Pavulon]

109. Did they build the pipe yet?(nt)

[earcandle]

70. What happened to "Innocent until proven guilty"? This is murder based on presumptions.

Hey;given what goes around comes around, wouldn't you be a
little more mindful about how you talk about out harming
others to support criminal behavior produced by our leaders? 
If we put those leaders in jail or execute them, we are less
likely to promote the criminal behavior as acceptable when it
is our turn to be slaughtered by the international police
forces we are now training.

People, get a clue.  Try some hindsight, some foresight, some
insight?  

[Pavulon]

76. It appears that the Executive Branch authorized his killing

during a time of war. Not a very common thing for an American "citizen". Pretty sure if he walks into a police station in the US he will be arrested and not shot in the face.

However if he is in yemen running around planning to kill more americans well he will end up medium rare.

[Exilednight]

100. Time of ware? Who have we declared war on? Congress never decalred war ...................

on either Iraq or Afghanistan. They authorized the use of military force, but no one declared war.

[Pavulon]

101. Dont have to declare war. War powers act

law of the land. You live in a representative democracy. Who do you think signed the paper to place him on a kill on sight list?

[Exilednight]

102. The War Power Act only allows for the President to send troops for up to .........

60 days, plus another 30 day draw-down phase. You stated that this is "a time of war". Prove to me that we are at war with anyone. Like I said, Congress did approve the use of force, but use of force is different than being at war.

I will further point out, only the ignorant believe that the Taliban are the same as Al Queda and the Afghanistan is the good war.

Anyone who sees Iraq for anything what it is, an illegal war, needs to have their head examined.

The one thing that has been proven: both of these wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, have made more terrorists than it's killed.

Furthermore, predator drone attacks into Pakistan are no more legal than you breaking into your neighbors house and shooting him because you think he robbed you.

And, the President sanctioning the death of a US Citizen without a trial is nothing more than usurping the Constitution.

The war on terror is a fucking joke. Bush did nothing to bring the world to our side, and Obama has done only slightly more.

And here's another reality of how a representative democracy functions: You can be voted out just as easily as you were voted in. If war crimes are going to be committed by my country, I would prefer to sit out an election and allow the opposing side win by default and commit such atrocities.

[Pavulon]

108. So how do you grok the dead guys in pakistan

that were killed by the us on executive order? Obama to the Hague? guess not, you going to vote in who ever the Rs run next time because obama greased taliban money men?

[Exilednight]

112. "Taliban money men"? Provide hard evidence ..........

that the people killed were Taliban money men.

You do know that there is a difference between Taliban and Al-Queda, don't you?

This administration who is killing "Taliban money men" is trying to negotiate with them while they kill them. Doesn't sound like good diplomacy to me.

And no, I won't vote for someone with an R in front of their name, I will just go third party if this administration doesn't change its tune.

[Pavulon]

117. Piss your vote away.

Who exactly do you think signs off on the operations? You know what level of authorization is required to do that, DONT YOU.....


And yeppers I know the difference. Lots of ways to negotiate, paying bribes or flying missiles that recognize faces into peoples homes...

TTFN.

[Exilednight]

121. How many more right-wing talking points do you have? n/t

[Pavulon]

129. What part of that is a talking point, exactly..Be precise

pick a sentence or point an tell me how civilian command and control is a talking point.

[awoke_in_2003]

96. self-delete. nt

[sulphurdunn]

103. You seem to appreciate realpolitik;

so lets talk some. We began seriously looting the underdeveloped world for its resources at the end of WWII. We expanded the main focus of our resource hegemony from Latin and South America to Asia and the Eurasian Sub-Continent. During the Cold War, maintaining a strong industrial base and middle class were essential. The goodies were distributed (at least among whites) with some sense of national purpose. That ended completely with the fall of the Soviet Empire. Now, our foreign and domestic policy is conducted to serve the financial interests of no more than a million American families. Both parties are the dancing monkeys of this financial class. Neither party nor the organ grinders for whom they dance give a shit about protecting American lives anymore than they care about the lives of foreigners. They try to cut the head off the insurgent snake not with any interest in winning a war or protecting American lives, but because killing lots of "goat herders" doesn't serve the democracy PR narrative. While this continues, they continue looting them and us.

[Exilednight]

104. He sounds like a Kissenger disciple. n/t

[Pavulon]

120. Can you list any assets taken from Afghanistan..

they are a shithole and have nothing worth taking and "distributing".

No pipeline yet, its been like 8 years, how long did it take to build that big oil pipe in Alaska?

[Exilednight]

122. Alaska wasn't a war zone. Big difference. You sound like a right-wing mouthpiece. n/t

[Pavulon]

130. And you are a doo doo flinging monkey, refute it or at least identify

a talking point I used..

[sulphurdunn]

131. Look at a map of South Asia.

Do you see where Iraq and Afghanistan are in relationship to Iran and Pakistan? Both countries are de facto bases of containment. Furthermore, Iraq conveniently has the worlds second largest known oil reserves and Afghanistan very possibly contains the worlds largest supply of strategic metals such as iron, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium. It is also produces 90% of the worlds opiates and is the worlds largest exporter of hashish. Believe me, we aren't spending hundreds of billions of dollars in these "shit holes" for nothing.

[sabrina 1]

43. You forgot, it is evidence for any future war crimes trials. n/t

[Pavulon]

48. Never going to happen. Have you actually read the docs

its sitreps and low level briefing. Nothing explosive about criminal activity.

[Exilednight]

113. I've read some of them, but I highly doubt you read ..........

any of them. There's some damning stuff in there in the way US troops acted and when put together with other known documents you begin to get a much bigger picture of how bad things really are/were.

Most of the reports are from the Bush the time of the Bush administration.

Will there be a war crimes trial? No.

Should there be a war crimes trial? Yes.

[Pavulon]

118. Sitting on a thumbie, downloaded at a university,

and you dont read them you search them.

[Pavulon]

8. dupe

dupe

[grattsl]

10. Other than blow the whistle on war crimes?

I don't know how shining a light on the messed up crap we (as a nation) are doing over there can be classified as anything but good.

[Pavulon]

35. What crime, post a link to the doc. I have the DB so post a searchable term

I have poked through the 90,000 pages and do not see a crime that could be prosecuted under UCMJ.

[earcandle]

72. thank goodness you are not in charge of anything

[Pavulon]

77. The folks who are signed off on every single thing I posted.

that is currently the position of the Executive branch and funded by the Legislative. Representative democracy at work..

[sabrina 1]

13. They exposed the lies that the military tells every time it

kills innocent civilians: 'today U.S. forces in cooperation with Afghan forces killed several insurgents known to have been responsible for a series of violent attacks in the area. The number two Al Queda leader was among the dead' ... blah, blah etc.

Then we hear from the people and sometimes reporters, that dozens of civilians have been killed which the military denies and none of them were 'insurgents', just villagers, farmers and their families. Same routine going on for years now. The people do not have access to the U.S. media so their accusations go unheard.

We must have 'killed' the number two Al Queda guy dozens of times by now, btw.

Wikileaks released proof that the ordinary people were correct after all. Which vindicates the families of the victims. That's one good thing Wikileaks has done.

But you knew that ...

[Pavulon]

37. You voted for people who will continue this war.

war kills civilians, always. You can not leak documents to try to change that democratic process without subverting it.

73 percent of civilians are killed by the taliban. They stack the bodies.

[sabrina 1]

44. Sure you can subert it by leaking documents. Daniel Ellsberg

did it ...

[Pavulon]

49. That conflict was already lost. I dont see a Pentagon Paper moment

in the sitreps and low level briefings so far. Just regular army bullshit paperwork you have to do.

[Exilednight]

114. This war is already loss, and so was Iraq.

As soon as all forces are removed from Iraq (august 2011) it spiral back into civil war.

Afghanistan is just putting off the inevitable. Our back government puppet is so corrupt that it makes the Bush administration look like amateurs.

[earcandle]

73. what country are you from and who are your sources?

[Pavulon]

79. Glad you asked. UNAMA (UN) and the US (76% of civies)

Taliban works hard killing civilians. Much harder than we do.

http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1741&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=9955
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/10/98940/un-taliban-attacks-drive-up-afghan.html

[OnyxCollie]

16. Just curious,

what is the definition of "good" and who would be classifying it as such?

Right on time.

[Pavulon]

36. Fraternity and Sorority initiations, that is the best they have so far

and good depends on which side you are playing.

[pattmarty]

38. The "ignorant goat herders"?

:sarcasm

[Downwinder]

5. I think there is a Greek tragedy about killing the messenger.

My memory fails me. It's like a bad spot on a hard drive. Sometimes given enough seek errors it will come back.

[Egnever]

11. Sadly

Scott's werent ginned up.

[amandabeech]

12. I don't think that the Swedish police are under the control

of any U.S. governmental agency.

[yurbud]

18. maybe they got snookered, which is why charge was withdrawn

[Sten]

19. Thank you!

Being a Swede I am quit convinced that the Swedish police is not under any such control. One of the girls (the one that claims to have been molested) has given an interview for the newspaper that is working with Wikileaks in Sweden. She contacted the other girl when she heard what happened to her and they went to the police together.

They both had what started as consensual sex but ended up feeling violated some way into the encounter. For the other girl it was enough for her to consider it a rape, though it legally might not be the case. Assange is not denying that he had sex with them, the issue is if it was fully consensual.

That leaves those claiming pentagon involvement indirectly accusing these women of being some kind of prostitutes. That shouldn't sit well with anyone of a progressive mindset to say about women that feel assaulted without having very solid evidence.

Instead it would do people good to remember that no matter what people do in their public life their bedroom actions can be quit different. Maybe George Bush is a fantastic lover! lol! It is possible and we shouldn't pretend we have a clue. We don't.

http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article7654860.ab

[EFerrari]

20. Yes, we do have a clue. The charges were withdrawn. n/t

[Sten]

22. What is your story?

So what do you think happened? Do you think they didn't have sex with him? Or that they where payed by some US agency to do so (maybe that they are prostitutes working for pentagon?). Or what is your story?

Two girls had sex with him at separate occasions. It was consensual at start. That has not yet been disputed by anyone. It is all about what followed. And to describe that as a rape was maybe not correct. Or the girls feel bad about messing things up for someone they admired. But things do happen by themselves sometimes. Without conspiracies.

[EFerrari]

23. Julian Assage has no history of raping women

but that the Pentagon and other US government agencies do have a history of harrassing, attacking and evening murdering inconvenient people. And as for the reports in the media, first reports are often wrong.

[Chan790]

53. Due to lack of cooperation of the (victims)...

who claim they only inquired of police and never formally pressed charges. The DA pressed charges without victim cooperation, those charges were squelched as unsupported...and lack of support was directly cited to victim non-cooperation.

Happens everyday in both legitimate (and less frequently non-legitimate) rape allegations. Perpetrator goes free because victim doesn't want to press charges or cooperate; DA can't make case without them.

[EFerrari]

78. It also hapens when the charges are crap. nt

[Chan790]

82. Fair enough...

My only point was that I'm reserving judgment on this. They didn't clear him of anything, they withdrew the charges. That's not a ringing endorsement of Assange's moral fiber, it's a pretty-messy gray area.

I just simply don't trust the guy (Let's be fair, I think most people are self-serving and pragmatically-evil.) and a lot of DU is willing to bend over backwards to defend him and to ignore things that seem to suggest he's not the altruistic do-gooder they want him to be. I think many DUers are going to end up with egg on their faces when he turns out to be a scumbag after-all.

[EFerrari]

84. Fair enough. I don't know him like I know the Pentagon!

lol

:)

[dbmk]

110. So in your world

A not guilty verdict is better than no charge at all?

Would you like to be on the recieving end of your own logic?

So if I were to say that you are a child rapist and then withdraw it...

[Chan790]

115. Yup.

I'd rather be cleared of a charge than have it withdrawn for lack of evidence while remaining under allegation. But then, I'm strange...I look forward to defending myself from my accusers and clearing my name.

[reorg]

127. looks like you pulled that one right out of your behind

>>lack of support was directly cited to victim non-cooperation<<

not true, here is what the prosecutors say: http://www.aklagare.se/In-English/

And BTW, there was no "DA" involved, and the accusers gave "a very detailed statement to the police".

http://www.stockholmnews.com/more.aspx?NID=5838

Not only did they go to the police, one of them immediately went to a fucking tabloid to tell the story, complete with the name of the accused celebrity whose name is on everybody's radar right now. My heart is bleeding for these "victims".

[PacerLJ35]

124. That doesn't mean anything...

One of my very close friends was raped in college. She pressed charges. The charges were dropped due to no evidence other than she said it happened. So your logic isn't an open and shut case.

[Diclotican]

27. Sten

Sten

Ever heard of the "honey trap" who the russians used to do, when they wanted high end diplomats in a spot, where KGB could reign them in, and play them for information as they got information.. Generals and officals from NATO was on their targed list, but even tho they managed to get some nasty pictures, the Honey trap faired back on KGB, if the diplomat admitted he was been used by the KGB, and was turned around, and feeding them wrong information...

This could be a case of "honey trap", By either the military intelligence in US, or by good old CIA, who have been known to use metodes that not allways have been smart...

And no, i doubt that the swedish police is under any controll of the US, as that would be really wrong from swedish side of the subject.. But they might share some information here and there... The neutrality of Sweden is somewhat doubtfull sometimes...

Diclotican

[sabrina 1]

50. Al Gore just had a similar experience when some 'girl'

accused him of sexual assault also. The police made no charges after determining that the woman was lying. People gave Gore the benefit of the doubt, and made their own determinations about the woman. Turns out they were right. The woman WAS lying.

People of a progressive mindset do not take kindly to 'allegations' of this nature, just because they are made by women. I am a woman, a progressive woman, and I abhor women who use sex as a weapon. It diminishes the credibility of real victims of rape. So people 'of a progressive nature' want proof of such serious allegations before even considering that they may be true.

Are you saying women are not capable of making such allegations especially against famous men like Al Gore for their own personal reasons or for money? Not all women are beyond reproach as we have often seen.

As a woman I deplore the use of 'progressives should never accuse women of anything' as a tactic to manipulate emotionally. When something stinks, as this story does, people of a 'progressive nature' will say so and will not stand silently by watching an innocent person 'even if he is a man' be smeared.

The CIA are of course the #1 suspects since Wikileaks already published documents showing them plotting how to silence Julian Assange and determining that using smears against him was the best way. If they did not want to be suspects, perhaps they should not be planning to lie in writing to destroy Wikileaks. And it's not as if they have not done so before.

[zbdent]

59. Remember, Tom Delay is now "innocent", because the charges were dropped ...

thus, Al Gore is innocent, too ...

[sabrina 1]

64. Tom Delay was accused of rape?

Because if he was, I would feel exactly the same way. If he was and there is no evidence other than the word of a woman, people should be very skeptical and there should be no charges, without some kind of evidence.

As for his political crimes, he's a Republican and corruption is okay in this country, if you are a Republican. That has zero to do with famous people being accused of rape.

[EFerrari]

87. In order for your comparison to work honestly,

you need to bring to it everything you know. When you do that, it doesn't work because Tom Delay is a scumbag and Al Gore is not a scumbag. Even if Delay were never charged, he'd still be a scumbag.

[Shining Jack]

60. +1

[reorg]

63. As a Swede, could you please shed some light on the legal issue

Most of the English language news articles said yesterday that the accusation of "molestation" was still being investigated, some articles added that "molestation" was an offense in Sweden.

The Aftonbladet article you linked quotes a woman in her thirties who claims to have been "molested" as saying it was a:

sexuellt övergrepp (sexual assault?, abuse?)

So I searched for the Swedish penal code and found this English translation:

http://www.sweden.gov.se/content/1/c6/02/77/77/cb79a8a3.pdf

I read the entire chapter 6 (On Sexual Crimes) and did not find any offense going by that name, much less the term "molestation". Like in most other countries, "sexual molestation" is only mentioned in paragraphs about crimes against children. You called that woman in her thirties "one of the girls" - but surely didn't mean to suggest she is a child, did you?

Specifically, the first three sections define

Section 1: rape
Section 2: sexual coercion
Section 3: sexual exploitation (of dependents, helpless or incapacitated persons)

The prosecutor has ruled out rape, neither coercion nor exploitation have been mentioned anywhere.

The other sections are about crimes with children, incest, prostitution.

So, please, could you point us to the paragraph in the Swedish penal code that deals with "molestation" of a thirty-year-old woman? Thanks.

[earcandle]

75. If they are over 21, and are just getting around to being news seekers, it likely isn't an issue.

Some people will do anything for money or 15 seconds of fame.

Sad lot. 

[droidamus2]

30. Who says...

Who says the Swedish government or police have to be complicit in the smear (if there is one). All those doing the smearing have to do is get somebody to make the accusations (usually for money I would guess) that doesn't mean the police or government know the accusations are unfounded until they have time to investigate.

[laughingliberal]

105. That's been my thought on it. A smear like this would not need the cooperation of the Swedes

Just as you said, all that's needed is to find an individual (or 2) willing to go file reports. All the better if they identify a couple of actual sex partners of Assange and gain their cooperation.

[chatnoir]

17. Smear campaign, yep

Their 3rd attempt with Scott Ritter. It's what they do to ppl who speak the inconvenient truth.

http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/scott-ritter-arrested-in-sex-stingexpect-more-lies-about-iran/

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. So do they have a video of Ritter jacking off or not?

[proud2BlibKansan]

24. Ritter got caught a 2nd time

About a year ago. First time it looked like he was being framed. Then a few years later, he got nabbed again. Didn't look so innocent that time.

[underpants]

40. Yes, sadly (as with anyone), Ritter has a problem and needs to be stopped

Still his book with Will Pitt is a fantastic read of exactly what was about to happened in and to Iraq.... and to the US

[proud2BlibKansan]

51. I heard him speak a couple years ago

and was very impressed.

I hope he either beats the charges or gets help, whichever is appropriate.

[glitch]

45. Holey moley I missed this at the time.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/15/un.inspector.ritter.arrest/index.html

Not that this discounts the possiblity of planted evidence in other cases, but this one sure looks like the cops caught one very sick man.

edit: of course with the sophisticated video editing available these days, I think I'll wait for the trial to pass judgment. If the evidence was rigged Scott Ritter should have the resources available to prove it. Looks bad for him though.

[CLANG]

31. Ginned up?

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/chief_not_publishpoconos_sex_sting_WGyPXivECwaSEiWGUZQ3AJ#ixzz0cc73vR5B

[hack89]

52. Masturbating to a 15 year old girl via a web cam is a little different. nt

[LAGC]

99. So says the police.

How easy would it be for a crooked cop to doctor a chat log to make it look like he was engaging a 15-year-old and not an adult?

Remember: this was a STING operation, where its often just one cop who may or may not have claimed to be an underage girl.

[liberalmike27]

62. Exactly what I thought

The minute I saw the headline. You mess with the MIC, the war machine, and they smear you with sexual allegations.

How pitiful our government is. These folks are way out of control, but of course, we knew that, didn't we.

[harvey007]

93. Yes. There seems to be a pattern

http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2010/01/scott-ritter-caught-in-child-sex-sting.html

They can destroy anyone's reputation and credibility easily.

Smear them as being a nut or a slut or a pervert.

Use look-alikes, plant evidence, use some techno-tricks, feed it to the media, and there you go.

[frustrated_lefty]

14. This may have simply been a warning shot across the bow.

This is hypothetical, but I'd wager that it would be possible to obtain a sample of Assange's DNA. At that point, it's simply a matter of hiring a woman/man/child to swab that sample in the appropriate orifice and claim rape. The test is sensitive enough to detect vanishingly small quantities of DNA, particularly if you're making a concerted effort to find it. At that point, he either has to turn himself in to Swedish police or exist on "the run" with the Swedish police obligated to arrest him on sight.

That's simply one possible route of attack.

You occasionally hear of individuals staying off the government radar, but how much of that is due to NOT doing anything to draw government attention? Assange is a hero, but I have doubts as to how well anyone can remain underground while simultaneously pissing off the American intelligence agencies?

[LAGC]

21. Easier to just pay an attractive woman to seduce him...

Have consensual sex, but then after the fact have her go to the police claiming rape. They do the rape kit on her, DNA is conclusive. Open and shut case.

Julian definitely needs to be careful who he beds for the foreseeable future. Really, any situation where he's alone with a female he doesn't know very well, could turn out to be compromising. I don't know if he's married, but even if not, he should try to maintain a monogamous relationship with a woman who he knows, so that the opportunity doesn't arise to frame him for real next time.

He's definitely a hero, and I hope he's not discouraged from doing what he's been doing. Hope he exposes even more deep, dark secrets of the Military-Industrial Complex.

[liberalmike27]

66. Great Point

It isn't like they don't have "assets" who would file supposedly "legitimate" complaints, that were totally bogus.

Interestingly, when you accuse someone of a sexual crime, it really gets women teed off, often without any consideration of innocence of the accused. It may be sexist to say so, but there is a "fry them" mentality of the accused, ginned up, pumped up by the many shows on television, examining legitimate sexual crimes of varying degrees. It is a kind of subtle brainwashing that television pushes into our minds, that things like this happen far, far more often than they actually do, which makes it easier to believe. That said, I know a lot of them do happen.

But clearly, these trumped up "charges" coming out just now, then combining Scott Ritter's "charges" coming up just after he futzed with the DOD/Pentagon military complex, really is a damning coincidence. You'll never get me to believe the guy is guilty now.

It's a weird thing about some people. They just don't seem to believe that organizations can stoop to such levels. But the thing I know is, the more power, or money a person, or an organization has, the more capable it is of doing anything, of accusing anyone of anything, of committing the most unimaginable evil. And who on this Earth has more power than the Pentagon?

This is total Bullshit, and it's all about Assange leaking well-hidden details they had carefully kept secret, through their MIC, and let's face it, our media complex. It's Chomsky's media filter, the Pentagon filter. We only hear information the media is fed by the Pentagon.

[sabrina 1]

81. I agree that there is a 'fry 'em' mentality as soon

as someone accuses a man of rape. But don't assume all women feel that way. Intelligent people of both sexes want evidence before assuming guilt especially when money or politics is involved. I know personally of a case where a friend of mine, a woman, reluctantly informed a prosecutor that a friend of hers, who had an affair with a married politician had confided in her that she might accuse him of sexual assault after he dumped, and 'get some of his money' as well as revenge. My friend was worried about the consequences to herself and family and did not immediately go to the prosecutor when she saw the report. But in the end she did and the charges were dropped, not based only on her testimony, but it helped.

As for this case, I did not believe it for a minute, and still don't but the Swedish prosecutor needs to reveal a bit more about what 'new information' caused them to drop the charges.

I believe also that you can be prosecuted for making false charges in Sweden so they may be working on that aspect of it also. They are now saying the women 'only asked qustions' but 'didn't file charges'. Probably because of that law.

[superconnected]

92. What gets me is how these two women from different citys found each other

and then went and told a cop together without pressing charges so they can't actually be held accountable for lying. Did they already know each other? I'll bet they did. I hope Sweden at least has laws for defame-ment and lying to a cop.

[sabrina 1]

94. At this point, I am willing to believe that they either they knew

other, or someone else knew both of THEM and put them in touch with each other.

[OnyxCollie]

15. K&R. nt

[sendero]

26. beautiful dog..

.. and I bet smart as a whip too. :)

[OnyxCollie]

32. Thank you!

He's smart, but he's no match for his daughter. Cunning and sly are the words that come to mind to best describe her.

[The Backlash Cometh]

28. I think they did it to plaster his photo across the globe.

[burnsei sensei]

29. Of course American intelligence agencies

are behind this.
Our government has been accusing and threatening Assange all along, the motive is really there.
Our government is more secretive than Sweden, but does share information with them.
It's not unreasonable to assume that the two government could be cooperating in hurting Wikileaks.
It is a smear.
I hope Assange exposes it all on . . . Wikileaks.
I am very pleased with Assange & Wikileaks. I hope both exist for a long, long time.
I want secrecy to lose its glamor.
A wise institution, one that acts in its own best interests, has no need to be secretive.
A foolish insitution must hide everything.

[Pavulon]

39. Where is the line? W88 design, G code to cut the physics package

circuitboard maps for the mechanism that controls a multistage nuclear weapon? Telemetry and access to GPS? Negotiations between governments, should they be wide open?

Secrecy is and will be maintained by every government.

[NBachers]

41. I guess it's time for kiddie porn to be "discovered" on his computer

[EFerrari]

86. Judi Lynn reminded me the other day that the exact same items

were "found" on the desk of Saddam Hussein as were "found" on the desk of Manuel Noriega -- porn, booze, cigars and drugs. I think that was the list. We decided they have this stuff packed in kits in a warehouse near Langley. :)

[NBachers]

119. Don't forget the emergency stockpile of tortilla flour

The porn must be reviewed approved by the Minerals Management Service; they really know what they're talking about.

[SILVER__FOX52]

46. This is why of Government and more specifically our......

Military have zero, creditability. Fuck the US.

[kpete]

54. Wikileaks’ Assange: Pentagon may be behind rape claims

Source: Raw Story/Agence France-Presse

Wikileaks’ Assange: Pentagon may be behind rape claims

By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 -- 10:48 am


Wikileaks Assange: Pentagon may be behind rape claims

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said in an interview published on Sunday that he believes the Pentagon could be behind a rape accusation against him that was later dropped by Swedish prosecutors.

................

The Aftonbladet newspaper quoted Assange, 39, as saying he did not know who was "hiding behind" the claims, which came amid a stand-off with Washington over the website's publication of secret Afghan war documents.

Assange said he was shocked by the allegations against him and that he had never had sexual relations with anybody in a way that was not consensual, the tabloid said.

But he said that he had been warned previously that groups such as the Pentagon "could use dirty tricks" to destroy Wikileaks -- adding that he had been particularly warned against being entrapped by sexual scandals.

Read more: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0822/wikileaks-pentagon-rape-claims/

[stray cat]

55. Myabe - but right now he is making false accusations just like his accusers

[WillParkinson]

56. Excellent point!

I want to believe the best of my country, but past indiscretions have shown that they're not always to be trusted. I'll always hope for the best, though.

[earcandle]

80. His statement was not an accusation, but a speculation based on warnings.

 Be careful with language, its powerful. 

[PacerLJ35]

125. Speculation = accusation

Especially when what you're speculating about is implicating that somebody did something criminal and/or wrong.

[liberation]

91. Obviously, "accusation" does not mean what you think it means...

... but then again, I am sure that was not your concern when you were rushing to establish that obvious false analogy.

[dbmk]

111. Unfounded accusations.

Different thing.

While he has no proof of it, it could still be true.

[PacerLJ35]

126. His molestation charge could be true too.

No body really seems to give a shit about that. I would hate to be the woman who complained about it, IF it was really true.

[ronnie624]

128. "But prosecutors withdrew the warrant to arrest him on suspicion of rape within 24 hours,

saying the accusations against him lacked substance."

[PacerLJ35]

132. True...but the molestation charge remained

[rocktivity]

57. Candidate for this year's "You Call This NEWS?" award

A textbook political dirty trick.

Oh, wait--ASSANGE said that he had been warned previously that groups such as the Pentagon "could use dirty tricks" and "sexual scandals"? And THAT isn't even a direct quote? That makes the Rawstory headline Wikileaks’ Assange: Pentagon may be behind rape claims more than little misleading.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[rocktivity]

58. The OP link is now Page Not Found

But I found this at Guardian UK:
Wikileaks Julian Assange Denies Rape Allegations

:shrug:
rocktivity

[snot]

89. Still defunct as of 2:57 PM.

[Odin2005]

67. Assange needs to watch is back and stay away from small planes.

[Pavulon]

74. The wellstone myth. The truth is far more interesting and scary

intelligence agencies have far more resources and capability than generally known. The fact his network of friends had not been recursively removed speaks to the value of what he has.

Alexander Litvinenko and Gerald Bull are real cases of people executed in public to make a point. many others are just gone..

Really how many former KGB people die in London from Polonium?

[Turborama]

83. Assange's interview with Al Jazeera English on this (video)

Over the phone, obviously: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x497688

[superconnected]

88. Good video. Thanks for linking it!

[DesertDiamond]

85. Shakyamuni (aka "the Buddha"), Ghandi, Nichiren Daishonin, and the list goes on...

Mr. Assange now joins the ranks of the greats whose enemies attempted to use rape charges to smear them...

[bigmonkey]

98. It's Gandhi.

Just saying.

[defendandprotect]

97. Quite easy to see as a smear . . . what else does corrupt government/MIC do in response???

[laughingliberal]

106. K & R nt

[DeSwiss]

116. K&R n/t

[SILVER__FOX52]

123. Well, it doesn't take any genuis to figure out where this is coming

from. The United States Military blows chunks, PERIOD.