Another sign that Briton, the Once GREAT Superpower, is Now a Banana Republic

Forums: Legal, News, Julian Assange, I Think He Means Britain, Breton Crackers
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LONDON — It was a warning meant to remind Ecuador that Britain’s patience has limits. But as the stalemate over Julian Assange settled in Friday, it appeared London’s veiled threat that it could storm Ecuador’s embassy and drag Assange out has backfired — drawing supporters to the mission where the WikiLeaks founder is holed up and prompting angry denunciations from Ecuador and elsewhere.

Experts and ex-diplomats say Britain’s Foreign Office, which warned Ecuador of a little known law that would allow it to side-step usual diplomatic protocols, messed up by issuing a threat it couldn’t back up.

“It was a big mistake,” said former British ambassador Oliver Miles. “It puts the British government in the position of asking for something illegitimate.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/stalemate-julian-assange-still-stuck-in-embassy-despite-receiving-asylum-from-ecuador/2012/08/17/f669619c-e85d-11e1-9739-eef99c5fb285_story.html?tid=pm_pop

Oh how the mighty have fallen. Hopefully America manages its post superpower status better.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 1,623 • Replies: 6

@hawkeye10,

We should stop doing America's dirty work for them, give Assange free passage to Ecuador, tell America that British citizens will not be extradited to America if they committed the 'crimes' on British soil, and get rid of theforeign troops.

All our recents problems come down to our successive prime minister's supine approach to America. Illegal war in Iraq, extraordinary rendition and now this.

What we really need is a prime minister who's prepared to stand up to America and tell them to stick the special relationship up their arse. It's a one way passage, we do America's dirty work and give their warcrimes a veneer of respectability and get **** all in return.

2 Replies

@izzythepush,

The US supporting you in your war mongering in Libya has already been forgotten I see. I mostly don't disagree with you as I have no respect for the former UK at all, partly because you have far too often been lap dogs for idiotic American global policy...to enclude economic policy.

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@hawkeye10,

Britain and France did the heavy lifting in that.

I've never had any respect for you because you're very stupid, you understand very little.

You can't even tell the difference between Briton and Britain.

It might be an idea to stick to what you do know, abusing women and children.

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@izzythepush,

FYI, Sweden wants him for alleged sex crimes, not the US.

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@mysteryman,

And the extradition laws in Sweden make it much easier for him to be sent to America to be murdered by the state. Sweden could give assurances he wouldn't be extradited to America, or he could be tried in Ecuador under Swedish law, the same way Al-Megrahi was tried under Scottish law in Holland.

This is all about America enacting revenge on the man who brought its war crimes to public attention. Bradley is already being subject to inhumane treatment, Assange can't be expected to be treated any differently.

Quote:

The 24-year-old is currently being detained at an army base awaiting military trial. He has been indicted on 22 counts relating to the leaks, including charges of aiding the enemy.

The crime carries a maximum penalty of death, although prosecutors have indicated that they will not seek the ultimate punishment.

In his address on Sunday, Assange noted that Manning has now spent more than 800 days behind bars without trial.

For a large chunk of that time Manning was kept in conditions that the UN's special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, has described as cruel and inhuman.

The young soldier's lawyers are current seeking to have the charges against Manning dismissed, citing the US army's "flagrant violation" of his right not to be punished prior to trial.

His civilian lawyer David Coombs has lodged legal documents detailing his treatment at the Quantico marine base in Virginia, where Manning was kept before being transferred to a softer prison under huge pressure from human rights activists.

The so-called Article 13 motion revealed that for months after his arrest in May 2010, the soldier was held in a 6 foot by 8 foot cell for 23 or 24 hours a day. In addition, when not sleeping, the suspect was banned from lying down, or even using a wall to support him.

It also claimed that Manning was punished through "degradation and humiliation", notably by forcing him to stand outside his cell naked during a morning inspection. This, his lawyer claims, was "retaliatory punishment" for speaking out over his treatment.

It has been suggested that the harsh treatment was used to intimidate Manning into a plea deal with US prosecutors, under which he would testify against Assange at a future date.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/aug/19/assange-witch-hunt-release-manning?newsfeed=true

In any event, we should not extradite anyone to a country that still has the death penalty, regardless of the crime.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

The fact that so much time and effort has been taken to extradite Assange by both the British and Swedish governments, shows this is about a lot more than just a sexual offence. America has clearly put pressure on both governments.

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Another sign that Briton, the Once GREAT Superpower, is Now a Banana Republic

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