Geen evolutie en ecolutie zonder revolutie!

Albert Einstein:

Twee dingen zijn oneindig: het universum en de menselijke domheid. Maar van het universum ben ik niet zeker.
Posts tonen met het label M. Flowers. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label M. Flowers. Alle posts tonen

dinsdag 21 januari 2020

Sancties van de VS zijn illegaal en zijn oorlogsmisdaden die moeten worden gestopt

De sancties die de VS eenzijdig en dus illegaal oplegt aan landen die haar niet welgevallig zijn, zijn niets anders dan grove oorlogsmisdaden waardoor zelfs mensen om het leven komen..... Even ter herinnering: in de 90er jaren van de vorige eeuw legde de VS eenzijdig sancties op aan Irak, daardoor kwamen 500.000 Irakese kinderen om het leven, ofwel die werden in feite vermoord door de VS.... De minister van buitenlandse zaken destijds (onder opperschoft Clinton) was de Democraat en oorlogsmisdadiger Madeleine Albright, toen deze psychopaat in 1996 werd geconfronteerd met dit feit en haar werd gevraagd of ze er geen spijt van had, antwoordde deze enorme hufter dat ze daar geen seconde spijt van heeft gehad en dat het e.e.a. het waard was geweest.....

Ook nu zijn kinderen en andere zwakke mensen de klos, zo zorgen de sancties tegen Iran ervoor dat belangrijke middelen tegen (kinder-) kanker niet meer te krijgen zijn, of zo duur zijn dat praktisch niemand ze kan betalen........ Wat mij betreft een misdaad tegen de menselijkheid!!  

De VS legt landen sancties op, die zoals gezegd vooral de zwakste burgers treffen ('treffen': letterlijk en figuurlijk)........ Door deze illegale sancties ontstaan er voorts tekorten op allerlei gebieden, waardoor de economie in het slop raakt, daarop geeft de VS het land de schuld, bijvoorbeeld door te wijzen op een 'lamlendig economisch beleid', of door in geval van een links geregeerd land het socialisme de schuld te geven......... (tegelijk organiseert de CIA dan demonstraties, waarbij men het liefst ook op de demonstranten laat schieten door ingehuurde scherpschutter moordenaars, om daarmee de regering van zo'n land nog meer zwart te maken....) De VS hoopt daarmee  een opstand te ontketenen in zo'n land*,  terwijl de wat beter geïnformeerden weten dat de VS de schuld is van de ellende juist door die sancties, zie Venezuela en Oekraïne, waar deze smerige vorm van terreur bij de eerste (nog) geen succes heeft, waar het bij de laatste, zoals bekend, wel is gelukt......

Gelukkig ontstaat er wereldwijd steeds meer weerstand tegen deze smerige VS terreur, (beter is dit smerige spel niet aan te duiden, sancties die intussen tegen 39 landen (!!) worden toegepast en uiteraard voelen andere landen daar ook de gevolgen van, immers bedrijven kunnen geen handel meer drijven, daar de wereld afhankelijk is van de dollar als betalingsmiddel en de VS juist de bedrijven straft die toch leveren ondanks de sancties...... Rusland is intussen klaar voor de introductie van een nieuw internationaal betalingssysteem zodat het systeem van de VS, te weten: SWIFT, uitgerangeerd kan worden.

Het volgende artikel werd eerder gepubliceerd op Nation of Change (ICH meldt onterecht dat dit PopularResistance is) en door mij overgenomen van Information Clearing House. In het artikel een petitie om actie te ondernemen tegen de terreursancties van de VS, lees en teken deze ajb en geeft het door:

The world must end the US’ illegal economic war











The indiscriminate, illegal and immoral use of sanctions is an act of war.

By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
January 16, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - The United States is relying more heavily on illegal unilateral coercive measures (also known as economic sanctions) in place of war or as part of its build-up to war. In fact, economic sanctions are an act of war that kills tens of thousands of people each year through financial strangulation. An economic blockade places a country under siege.

A recent example is the increase in economic measures being imposed against Iran, which many viewed as more acceptable than a military attack. In response to Iran retaliating for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani and seven other people, Iran used ballistic missiles to strike two bases in Iraq that house U.S. troops. President Trump responded by saying he would impose more sanctions on Iran. Then he ended his comments by urging peace negotiations with Iran. The United States needs to understand there will be no negotiations with Iran until the U.S. lifts sanctions that seek to destroy the Iranian economy and turn the people against their government.

The sanctions on Iran have been in place since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which made that country independent of the United States. Iran is not the only country being sanctioned by the United States. Samuel Moncada, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations, speaking to the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement of 120 nations on October 26, 2019, denounced the imposition of sanctions by the U.S., as “economic terrorism which affects a third of humanity with more than 8,000 measures in 39 countries.”

It is time to end U.S. economic warfare and repeal these unilateral coercive measures, which violate international law.


Sanctions are war. From havaar.org.

Sanctions are a weapon of war

The United States uses sanctions against countries that resist the U.S.’ agenda. U.S. sanctions are designed to kill by destroying an economy through denial of access to finance, causing hyperinflation and shortages and blocking basic necessities such as food and medicine. For example, sanctions are expected to cause the death of tens of thousands of Iranians by creating a severe shortage of critical medicines and medical equipment everywhere in Iran.

Muhammad Sahimi writes that in a “letter published by The Lancet, the prestigious medical journal, three doctors working in Tehran’s MAHAK Pediatric Cancer Treatment and Research Center warned that, ‘Re-establishment of sanctions, scarcity of drugs due to the reluctance of pharmaceutical companies to deal with Iran, and a tremendous increase in oncology drug prices [due to the plummeting value of the Iranian rial by 50–70%], will inevitably lead to a decrease in survival of children with cancer.’”

Diabetes, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and asthma affect over ten million Iranians who will find essential medicines impossible to get or available only at high prices. The U.S. claims that food and medicines are excluded from sanctions but in practice, they are not because pharmaceutical companies fear sanctions being applied to them over some technical violation and Iran cannot pay for essentials when banks can’t do business with it. European nations failed to persuade the Trump administration to ensure that essential medicine and food were available to Iranians.

In Venezuela, due to the sanctions, 180,000 medical operations have been canceled and 823,000 chronically ill patients are awaiting medicines. The Center for Economic and Policy 
Research found sanctions have deprived Venezuela of “billions of dollars of foreign exchange needed to pay for essential and life-saving imports,” contributing to 40,000 total deaths in 2017 and 2018. More than 300,000 Venezuelans are at risk due to a lack of access to medicine or treatment. Economists warn U.S. sanctions could cause famine in Venezuela. Sanctions also cause shortages of parts and equipment needed for electricity generation, water systems, and transportation as well as preventing participation in the global financial market. Sanctions, which are illegal under the UN, OAS and US law, have caused mass protests in Venezuela against the U.S. 

Sanctions against Iran and Venezuela could be a prelude to military attack, i.e. the US weakening a nation economically before attacking it. This is what happened in Iraq. Under pressure from the United States, on Aug. 2, 1990, the UN Security Council passed sanctions that required countries to stop trading or carrying out financial transactions with Iraq. President George H.W. Bush said the UN sanctions would not be lifted “as long as Saddam Hussein is in power.” The U.S. continued to pressure the increasingly skeptical Security Council members into compliance even though hundreds of thousands of children were dying. In 1996, then-U.S. Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright was asked about the death of as many as 500,000 children due to lack of medicine and malnutrition exacerbated by the sanctions, and she brutally replied, “[The] price is worth it.” Sanctions were also used against Libya and Syria before the U.S. attacked them.

This is consistent with the U.S. ‘way of war’ described by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz in “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States,” which describes frontier counterinsurgency premised on annihilation including the destruction of food, housing, and resources as well as ruthless militarism. The U.S. has waged a long-term economic war against Cuba (sanctions in place since 1960), North Korea (first sanctions in the 1950s, tightened in the 1980s), Zimbabwe (2003) and Iran (1979) 

Sanctions hurt civilians, especially the most vulnerable—babies, children, the elderly and chronically ill—not governments. Their intent is to shrink the economy and cause chronic shortages and hyperinflation while ensuring a lack of access to finance to pay for essentials. The U.S. then blames the targeted government claiming that corruption or socialism is the problem in an effort to turn the people against their government. This often backfires as people instead rally around the government, quiet their calls for democracy and work to develop a resistance economy.


Stop Sanctions destroying lives from BrightonAndHoveNews.org.

The movement to end sanctions

In recent years, a movement has been building to end the use of illegal economic coercive measures. The movement includes governments coming together in forums like the Non-Aligned Movement, made up of countries that represent 55 percent of the global population, as well as UN member-states calling for international law and the UN Charter to be upheld and social movements organizing to educate about the impact of sanctions and demand an end to their use. This June, the Non-Aligned Movement called for the end of sanctions against Venezuela.

Popular Resistance is working with groups around the world on the Global Appeal for Peace, an initiative to create a worldwide network of people and organizations that will work together to oppose the lawless actions of the United States, and any country that acts similarly. A high priority is opposing the imposition of unilateral coercive economic measures that violate the charter of the United Nations. The UN and its International Court of Justice have been ineffective in holding the U.S. accountable for its actions. No one country or one movement has the power alone to hold the United States accountable, but together we can make a difference. Join this campaign here.

With 39 countries targeted with sanctions, and other countries impacted because they cannot trade with those countries, nations are challenging the U.S.’ dollar domination. Countries are seeking to conduct trade without the dollar and are no longer treating the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency while also avoiding Wall Street. The de-dollarization of the global economy is a boomerang effect that is hastening due to the abuse of sanctions and will seriously weaken the U.S. economy.

Foreign Minister Zarif, who describes sanctions as “economic terrorism,” warned that “the excessive use of economic power by the United States, and the excessive use of the dollar as a weapon in U.S. economic terrorism against other countries, will backfire.”  As the blowback continues to grow, the negative impact on the U.S. economy may force the U.S. to stop using sanctions. The end of dollar domination will add to the demise of the failing U.S. empire.


End the Deadly Sanctions banner on the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C. From the Embassy Defense Collective.

Time to end the use of illegal economic sanctions

The combination of countries acting against U.S. sanctions, and people’s movements pressuring the U.S. government has the potential to end the abuse of sanctions. The EU has moved to blunt the impact of the sanctions against Iran by creating an alternative to the U.S.-controlled SWIFT system for trade. This is spurring the end of the dollar as the reserve currency. Some officials in the EU have called for retaliatory sanctions against the U.S.
Trump left a small opening for potential diplomacy with Iran that could lead to the end of sanctions against that country. Trump bragged about the U.S. being the number one oil and gas producer, taking credit for an Obama climate crime, and therefore no longer needing to spend hundreds of millions a year to have troops in the Middle East. He concluded with a message to the “people and leaders of Iran” that the U.S. was “ready to have peace with all those who seek it.” He said the U.S. wanted Iran to have a “great and prosperous future with other countries of the world.”

That future is only possible if the U.S. moves to end the sanctions against Iran. Iranians have learned the U.S. cannot be trusted. Iran lived up to the requirements of the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but Trump did not when he withdrew from it and re-instated draconian sanctions lifted by Obama. Trump added even move sanctions. This also angered European allies who had negotiated the agreement and were put in the position of being subservient to the U.S. or going against it. To regain Iran’s trust, the U.S. needs to make a good-faith gesture of ending punitive economic measures.

North Korea, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. longer than any other country, had a similar experience after they reached an agreement with the United States in 1994 under the Clinton administration.  The George W. Bush administration wanted to put in place a national missile defense system but the agreement with North Korea blocked that. John Bolton and Dick Cheney falsely accused North Korea of violating the agreement, increased sanctions against it and claimed it was part of the Axis of Evil, along with Iran, and Iraq. 

North Korea, like Iran, learned they cannot trust the United States. Sanctions are causing thousands of deaths in North Korea. Now, China and Russia are allied with North Korea and are urging relief from the U.S. sanctions. Russia and China have also ignored U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and continue to do business with it.

On December 17, the Senate passed a Sanctions Bill that put in place sanctions against corporations working with Russia to develop gas pipelines to Europe. The action is naked U.S. imperialism seeking to prevent Russia from being the main natural gas exporter (NS2) to the EU market and to replace it with more expensive U.S.-produced gas, a move to save the financially-underwater U.S. fracking industry. Russia, Germany, and others have defiantly told Washington its weaponizing of economic sanctions will not halt the gas pipeline construction. 

The indiscriminate, illegal and immoral use of sanctions is an act of war. Unless they are authorized by the United Nations, unilateral coercive measures are illegal. A critical objective of the peace and justice movement in the United States, working with allies around the world, must be to end this terrorist economic warfare. The U.S. economy currently depends on financial hegemony and war. The slow, steady collapse of the dollarized economy means the 2020s will be the decade U.S. domination comes to an end. The U.S. must learn to be a cooperative member of the global community or risk this isolation and retaliation.

Kevin Zeese is an American political activist who has been a leader in the drug policy reform and peace movements and in efforts to ensure a voter verified paper audit trail. Margaret Flowers, M.D., is a Maryland pediatrician seeking the Green Party nomination for the US Senate. She is co-director of PopularResistance.org and a board adviser to Physicians for a National Health Program and is on the Leadership Council of the Maryland Health Care Is a Human Right campaign.

This article was originally published by "PopularResistance" -
==================================
* Tegelijk stoken zoals gezegd CIA agenten het vuurtje op en bewapenen in veel gevallen een aantal scherpschutter moordenaars, zodat deze slachtoffers maken onder de demonstranten, vervolgens wordt de schuld daarvoor in de schoenen van de onwelgevallige regering geschoven..... Iets dergelijks wordt een 'false flag operatie' genoemd, de VS gebruikte dit o.a. in Oekraïne en Syrië, waar deze terreuroperatie in het laatste land mislukte.

Zie ook:
'Moordenaar van Soleimani komt om bij neerhalen van VS spionage vliegtuig in Afghanistan

'KLM vliegt weer over oorlogsgebied Iran - Irak, terwijl andere maatschappijen waaronder Air France het gebied mijden' (en zie de links in dat bericht anders, dan de hier getoonde)

'Soleimani moord: VS pleegde een daad van oorlog

'Rampvlucht TWA 800 vs. PS752'

'Trudeau (premier Canada): de VS is verantwoordelijk voor de vliegramp in Iran'

Voor meer berichten over sancties of andere zaken uit dit bericht, klik op de betreffende links, die je direct onder dit bericht terug kan vinden. 

zaterdag 30 juni 2018

Assange is journalist en zou alleen daarom al niet mogen worden vervolgd, een artikel o.a. voor de huidige 'journalisten' van de reguliere media en de gebruikers van die media

Vorige week werden er wereldwijd pro-Assange demonstraties gehouden die gewijd waren aan de hachelijke situatie waarin Julian Assange zich bevindt, in feite gevangen in de Ecuadoraanse ambassade in Londen, dit daar hij onmiddellijk zal worden gearresteerd als hij zich buiten de deur waagt (de ambassade wordt 24 uur per dag in de gaten gehouden door meerdere agenten, wat intussen al een godsvermogen moet hebben gekost...).....

Afbeeldingsresultaat voor Assange Is a Journalist and Should Not Be Persecuted for Publishing the Truth

Als Groot-Brittannië hem uitlevert, wacht Assange naar grote waarschijnlijkheid een levenslange gevangenisstraf, de straf die hem maximaal kan worden opgelegd, gezien de situatie in de VS is het inderdaad zeer waarschijnlijk dat deze straf hem daadwerkelijk zal worden opgelegd.....

Straf voor het uitvoeren van zijn taak als journalist, het controleren van de overheid en dat in de breedste zin van het woord.... Door WikiLeaks hebben klokkenluiders in de VS een medium gekregen waar zij, na hun meestal al meerdere malen tevergeefs gedane pogingen om een eind te maken aan misstanden die zij tijdens hun werk tegenkomen, deze zaken (of zaak) openbaar te maken. 

Misstanden waar ofwel hun meerderen geen belangstelling voor hebben, daar dit hun positie in gevaar zou kunnen brengen, dan wel dat hen door die meerderen te verstaan wordt gegeven de mond te houden, daar hen anders ontslag en/of een rechtszaak wacht........ Natuurlijk zijn er voldoende klokkenluiders die weten dat de enige mogelijkheid is anoniem een zaak direct in de media te brengen, daar overleg met meerderen over een misstand op zeker tot ontslag zal leiden.....

Afbeeldingsresultaat voor Assange Is a Journalist and Should Not Be Persecuted for Publishing the Truth

In feite is de zaak tegen Assange een zaak tegen alle overheidsdienaren die met grote regelmaat fikse misstanden zien en tegen alle journalisten die nog wel hun werk doen zoals dat bedoeld is voor die functie.... Lullig genoeg zijn dat niet de journalisten van de reguliere media, die ofwel gevangen zitten in het harnas van de overheid, 'journalisten' van de zogenaamde publieke omroepen en de 'journalisten' van de andere media die in het bezit zijn van welgestelde personen (zoals hufter Murdoch), dan wel grote mediabedrijven die aan de beurs genoteerd staan en die geen belang hebben bij kritiek op de overheid of het bedrijfsleven, beter gezegd die er geen belang bij hebben dat bijvoorbeeld het inhumane, ijskoude neoliberalisme wordt bekritiseerd (met feiten!)..........

In Nederland hebben we het vermaledijde klokkenluidershuis, en dat is verworden tot één grot fiasco, waar dit huis zelfs na 2 jaar niet één zaak heeft afgerond, laat staan dat er zaken openbaar werden gemaakt...... (waardoor misstanden blijven bestaan...) Het smerige aan dit klokkenluidershuis is dat mensen die zich aangemeld hebben, met niemand, zelfs niet met huisgenoten of familie mogen praten over deze zaak...... Terwijl klokkenluiders meestal al een paar jaar hebben gewacht voor zij zaken in de openbaarheid willen brengen, of ze zijn met de kop tegen de muur gelopen bij hun directie of leiding en er derhalve alle belang bij hebben dat hun zaak juist snel in de openbaarheid komt, dit (nogmaals) om een eind te maken aan misstanden, ze zijn immers niet voor niets klokkenluider..........

Uiteraard is de democratie gebaat bij een site als WikiLeaks, het is juist in ons aller belang dat bijvoorbeeld corruptie en dergelijke zaken aan het licht komen, zodat er een eind aan die corruptie kan worden gemaakt...... Het lullige is dat het overgrote deel van de westerse politici bijna dagelijks de mond vol hebben over bestrijding van corruptie en voorheen over transparantie, maar er in werkelijkheid niets aan willen doen en zaken zo gesloten mogelijk willen houden..... (waar nog opgemerkt dient te worden dat het woord 'transparantie' in tegenstelling tot een paar jaar geleden nog maar zelden wordt gebruikt door die politici....)

Afbeeldingsresultaat voor Assange Is a Journalist and Should Not Be Persecuted for Publishing the Truth

Het overgrote deel van de reguliere (massa-) media die berichtten over WikiLeaks en over Assange toen hij net in de Ecuadoraanse ambassade was gevlucht, spraken de VS overheden na, vooral de 'uiterst betrouwbare', CIA..... Waar deze terreurorganisatie stelde dat er uiterst gevaarlijke informatie was gelekt en dat daardoor honderden zo niet duizenden mensen in gevaar zouden zijn gekomen..... 

Deze media deden niet eens moeite de gelekte documenten te lezen en te zien of de CIA en de VS regering wel de waarheid spreken.... Zeker gezien het feit dat de CIA heel vaak liegt, wat ook geldt voor de regering van de VS, nu de Trump administratie. Nee, voor de reguliere westerse media en het grootste deel van de westerse politici geldt dat de staat en de CIA hebben gesproken, dus 'klaar en waar......'

Het is dan ook ronduit een schande dat zogenaamde journalisten meehuilen in het meer dan valse CIA koor.......

Afbeeldingsresultaat voor Assange Is a Journalist and Should Not Be Persecuted for Publishing the Truth

Lees het volgende artikel van Kevin Zeese en Margaret Flowers, die nog veel dieper op de zaak ingaan en zegt het voort, het is de hoogste tijd dat liegende politici en media aan de paal worden genageld voor al hun leugens, smerige spelletjes en het belazeren van het volk respectievelijk de gebruikers van de reguliere media............

Assange Is a Journalist, Should Not Be Persecuted for Publishing the Truth

by Kevin B. Zeese and Margaret Flowers June 29, 2018

Last week, rallies in support of Julian Assange were held around the world. We participated in two #AssangeUnity events seeking to #FreeAssange in Washington, DC.

This is the beginning of a new phase of the campaign to stop the persecution of Julian Assange and allow him to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London without the threat of being arrested in the UK or facing prosecution by the United States.

The Assange Case Is a Linchpin for Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Information in the 21st Century

The threat of prosecution against Julian Assange for his work as editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks will be a key to defining what Freedom of the Press means in the 21st Century. Should people be allowed to know the truth if their government is corrupt, violating the law or committing war crimes? Democracy cannot exist when people are misled by a concentrated corporate media that puts forth a narrative on behalf of the government and big business.

This is not the first time that prosecution of a journalist will define Freedom of the Press. Indeed, the roots of Freedom of the Press in the United States go back to the prosecution of John Peter Zenger, a publisher who was accused of libel in 1734 for publishing articles critical of the British royal governor, William Cosby. Zenger was held in prison for eight months awaiting trial. In the trial, his defense took its case directly to the jury.

For five hundred years, Britain had made it illegal to publish “any slanderous News” that may cause “discord” between the king and his people. Zenger’s defense argued that he had published the truth about Cosby and therefore did not commit a crime. His lawyer “argued that telling the truth did not cause governments to fall. Rather, he argued, ‘abuse of power’ caused governments to fall.” The jury heard the argument, recessed and in ten minutes returned with a not guilty verdict.

The same issue is presented by Julian Assange — publishing the truth is not a crime. WikiLeaks, with Assange as its editor and publisher, redefined reporting in the 21st Century by giving people the ability to be whistleblowers to reveal the abuses of government and big business. People anonymously send documents to WikiLeaks via the Internet and then after reviewing and authenticating them, WikiLeaks publishes them. The documents sometimes reveal serious crimes, which has resulted in Assange being threatened with a secret indictment for espionage that could keep him incarcerated for the rest of his life.

This puts the Assange case at the forefront of 21st Century journalism as he is democratizing the media by giving people the power to know the truth not reported, or falsely reported, by the corporate media. Breaking elite control over the media narrative is a serious threat to their power because information is power. And, with the internet and the ability of every person to act as a media outlet through social and independent media, control of the narrative is moving toward the people.

In this environment, the Internet-based news is becoming more dominant and WikiLeaks is a particular threat to media monopolization by the elites. Research is showing that independent and social media are having an impact on people’s opinions.

The threats to Julian Assange are occurring when dissent is under attack, particularly media dissent; the FBI has a task force to monitor social media. The attack on net neutralityGoogle using algorithms to prevent searches for alternative media and Facebook controlling the what people see are all part of the attack on the democratized media.

The Astounding Impact of WikiLeaks’ Reporting

The list of WikiLeaks’ revelations has become astounding. The release of emails from Hillary Clintonher presidential campaign, and the Democratic National Committee had a major impact on the election. People saw the truth of Clinton’s connections to Wall Street, her two-faced politics of having a public view and a private view as well as the DNC’s efforts to undermine the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders. People saw the truth and the truth hurt Hillary Clinton and the Democrats.

Among the most famous documents published were those provided by Chelsea Manning on IraqAfghanistan, the Guantanamo Prison and the US State Department. The Collateral Murder video among the Manning Iraq war documents shows US soldiers in an Apache helicopter gunning down a group of innocent men, including two Reuters employees, a photojournalist, and his driver, killing 16 and wounding two children. Millions have viewed the video showing that when a van pulled up to evacuate the wounded, the soldiers again opened fire. A soldier says, “Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards.”

Other significant intelligence leaks followed, i.e., Vault 7, documents on the Central Intelligence Agency’s activities, and Vault 8, which included source code on CIA malware activities.

WikiLeaks has also published documents on other countries, e.g. WikiLeaks published a series of documents on Russian spyingWikiLeaks has been credited by many with helping to spark the Tunisian Revolution which led to the Arab Spring, e.g., showing the widespread corruption of the 23-year rule of the Ben AliForeign Policy reported that “the candor of the cables released by WikiLeaks did more for Arab democracy than decades of backstage U.S. diplomacy.” WikiLeaks’ publications provided democracy activists in Egypt with information needed to spark protests and provided background that explained the Egyptian uprising. Traditional media publications like the New York Times relied on WikiLeaks to analyze the causes of the uprising.

WikiLeaks informed the Bahrain public about their government’s cozy relationship with the US, describing a $5 billion joint-venture with Occidental Petroleum and $300 million in US military sales and how the US Navy is the foundation of Bahrain’s national security.
John Pilger describes WikiLeaks’ documents, writing, “No investigative journalism in my lifetime can equal the importance of what WikiLeaks has done in calling rapacious power to account.”

Assange Character Assassination And Embassy Imprisonment

Julian Assange made powerful enemies in governments around the world, corporate media, and big business because he burst false narratives with the truth. As a result, governments fought back, including the United States, Great Britain, and Sweden, which has led to Assange being trapped in the embassy of Ecuador in London for six years.

The root of the incarceration were allegations in Sweden. Sweden’s charges against Assange were initially dropped by the chief prosecutor, two weeks later they found a prosecutor to pursue a rape investigation. One of the women had CIA connections and bragged about her relationship with Assange in tweets she tried to erase. She even published a 7-step program for legal revenge against lovers. The actions of the women do not seem to show rape or any kind of abuse. One woman held a party with him after the encounter and another went out to eat with him. In November 2016, Assange was interviewed by Swedish prosecutors for four hours at the Ecuadorian embassy. In December 2016, Assange published tweets showing his innocence and the sex was consensual. Without making a statement on Assange’s guilt, the Swedish investigators dropped the charges in May 2017. The statute of limitations for Swedish charges will be up in 2020.

As John Pilger pointed out, “Katrin Axelsson and Lisa Longstaff of Women Against Rape summed it up when they wrote, ‘The allegations against [Assange] are a smokescreen behind which a number of governments are trying to clamp down on WikiLeaks for having audaciously revealed to the public their secret planning of wars and occupations with their attendant rape, murder, and destruction… The authorities care so little about violence against women that they manipulate rape allegations at will.’”

Assange is still trapped in the embassy as he would be arrested for violating his bail six years ago. But, the real threat to Assange is the possibility of a secret indictment against him in the United States for espionage. US and British officials have refused to tell Assange’s lawyers whether there was a sealed indictment or a sealed extradition order against him. Former CIA Director, now Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has described WikiLeaks as a non-state hostile intelligence service and described his actions as not protected by the First Amendment. In April 2017, CNN reported, “US authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.” The Obama Justice Department determined it would be difficult to bring charges against Assange because WikiLeaks wasn’t alone in publishing documents stolen by Manning but the Trump DOJ believes he could be charged as an accomplice with Edward Snowden.

When the president campaigned, Trump said he loved WikiLeaks and regularly touted their disclosures. But, in April 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that Assange’s arrest is a “priority.”

Time To Stop the Persecution of Julian Assange

The smearing of Assange sought to discredit him and undermine the important journalism of WikiLeaks. Caitlin Johnstone writes that they smear him because “they can kill all sympathy for him and his outlet, it’s as good for their agendas as actually killing him.”

Even with this character assassination many people still support Assange. This was seen during the #Unity4J online vigil, which saw the participation of activists, journalists, whistleblowers and filmmakers calling for the end of Assange’s solitary confinement and his release. This was followed a week later by 20 protests around the world calling for Assange’s release.

Julian Assange has opened journalism’s democracy door; the power to report is being redistributed, government employees and corporate whistleblowers have been empowered and greater transparency is becoming a reality. The people of the United States should demand that Assange not face prosecution and embrace a 21st Century democratized media that provides greater transparency and accurate information about what government and business interests are doing. Prosecuting a news organization for publishing the truth, should be rejected and Assange should be freed.

You can support Julian Assange by spreading the word in your communities about what is happening to him and why. You can also show support for him on social media. We will continue to let you know when there are actions planned. And you can support the WikiLeaks Legal Defense Fund, run by the Courage Foundation, at IAmWikiLeaks.org.

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers co-direct Popular Resistance. Kevin Zeese is on the advisory board of the Courage Foundation. This article first appeared as theweekly newsletter of the organization.

Read more by Kevin B. Zeese

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Zie ook:
'Julian Assange, valse beschuldigingen, Big Brother en VS steun voor terrorisme'

'WhiteHouse: US, Ecuador Coordinating About Future Of Assange Asylum' Dit is een artikel van Caitlin Johnstone (Rogue Journalist) en sluit perfect aan op het hierboven opgenomen artikel, waarin je overigens ook een link vindt naar een ander Johnstone artikel over deze zaak.

'Julian Assange gedemoniseerd door media die hem zouden moeten steunen, waren ze bevolkt geweest door echte journalisten........'

'WikiLeaks toont aan dat VS en GB een gezamenlijke gewelddadige en bedrieglijke buitenlandpolitiek voeren'

'De prijs op het hoofd van Julian Assange: 1 miljard dollar.....'

'Assange kan niet voor spionage worden vervolgd, immers hij is journalist >> aldus Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers) in een video'

'Stop de isolatie van Julian Assange!'

'Julian Assange (Wikileaks) haalt hypocriete Britse regering onderuit voorwijzen op belang van vrije en onafhankelijke media'

'Volkskrant en Nieuwsuur Fake News over 'Russische hacks.....''

'VS waarschuwde regering van Zweden voor Wikileaks in aanloop verkiezingen, Assange 'moest en zou hangen', ofwel de zoveelste VS manipulatie van verkiezingen elders......'

'Klokkenluidershuis zoals verwacht één grote mislukking.........'

'Plasterk adviseert klokkenluidershuis niet onder te brengen bij ombudsman'

'Klokkenluiders in vervolg vogelvrij, een nieuwe EU wet.......'

''Huis voor Klokkenluiders' bedoelt om klokkenluiden tegen te gaan.........'

'Sven Kockelmann is overtuigd dat politici eerlijk zijn en van lobbyisten heeft hij nooit gehoord......... ha! ha! ha! ha!'

'AIVD geïnfiltreerd in Klokkenluidershuis, dat is 'gewoon' gebruik maken van vakkrachten......... ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!'

'Klokkenluidershuis een fiasco, zoals voorspeld.........'

'Huis voor Klokkenluiders blijkt nog groter fiasco dan eerder gedacht...... Wat wil je? Opgezet op initiatief van bedrijven lobbykabinet Rutte 2......'

'Stop 'Trade Secrets Protection Directive!' Daarmee worden we overgeleverd aan bedrijven........'

 'Rutte 3 gaat 20 miljoen investeren in 'onafhankelijke' onderzoeksjournalistiek..... ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!'

'Britse regering wil klokkenluiders tot 14 jaar gevangenisstraf geven............ Leve de vrije nieuwsgaring!!'