At the end of Julian Assange’s testimony before the Judicial Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 95% of the entire room of 220 people rose in a standing ovation.
The audience consisted of members of the Parliamentary Assembly, who are delegated members of their national parliaments, from all over Europe. Furthermore they included members of the full European political spectrum, including the dominant national parties.
The audience also included Council of Europe staff and experts, and worldwide media. Note this well – and I have never witnessed anything remotely like this – the 100 or so media representatives all stood and joined in the applause. I need to stress this was largely not the alt media, but the legacy media in all its pomp.
Glancing up a level, they were even standing and applauding behind the glass of the interpreters’ booths.
The dignity and clarity of Julian’s prepared statement and the stark honesty of his delivery provoked this reaction, coupled with sympathy for a man who has unjustly suffered extreme hardship and deprivation for years. I hope it was a valuable and affirming moment for Julian, so richly deserved.
But I must confess I looked over at the applauding media, and thought how Julian had been slandered and traduced and his case entirely misrepresented for over a decade. I recalled how he had been wrongly represented for years as a sexual offender and as a lunatic who smeared excrement on walls.
Oh well … “there is more joy in heaven at one sinner that repenteth”. If the mainstream media are now willing to give positive coverage to Julian’s thoughts, that will be a good thing, as indeed largely happened over this event. His words on the assassination of journalists in Gaza and on the programming of targets in Gaza using AI were an excellent pointer towards where his thoughts are trending.
I also was very worried about Julian’s health. I do not wish in any way to detract from his extremely good performance and the success he had and deserved. But to me, the signs that he has not fully recovered yet were very obvious. His physical recovery appears to be complete; he looked fit and had lost that prison puffiness. But after years of isolation the brain takes longer to re-adapt to stimuli.
The old sparkle and fire were not yet quite there. His voice had little variation in tone and pitch, and a slight hesitation in delivery. He answered questions adequately and thoughtfully but the quickfire command was lacking and sometimes he appeared not to have caught the thrust of the question.
When asked a question by German MP Sevim Dağdelen – a constant friend and doughty campaigner for him for many years – he plainly did not recognise her and at that point declared himself too tired to continue.
I am well acquainted with jet lag, and this was not just that.
I am also well acquainted with the effects of solitary confinement, having endured four months of it. Julian has endured 17 times more, preceded by eight years in the Embassy, with the added extreme pressure of not knowing when and even if it would ever end. Remember, as reported by Prof Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and now reaffirmed by the Council of Europe, Julian’s treatment amounted to years upon years of torture.
Julian himself stated at the start of his presentation that “the years of isolation have taken their toll”. In a press conference afterwards, Stella stated that, without violating Julian’s privacy, his recovery is far from complete.
I hope that the support of the Council of Europe has given a real boost to Julian’s morale, but I also hope that he will now return to concentrate on his recovery and not seek to dive back in to public affairs again too fast.
I see great pressures on Julian from those who wish, from the best of motives, to involve him in various causes in this crucial moment of crisis, of not just armed conflict, but a crisis of values and beliefs exacerbated by technology.
Julian indicated that his primary future interests may lie in AI, cryptology and neurotechnology and their uses and abuses. In the press conference without Julian, Kristinn Hrafnsson, Editor in Chief of Wikileaks, said that the future of Wikileaks and Julian’s role in it would be discussed, but Julian had only been free a few weeks and more time was needed before big decisions were taken.
I am sure this is right, and please take this article as a plea from me to everybody to leave Julian alone and give him more time – as much as he wants – fully to recover. He is a man, not a cause or a principle.
I might add here that obviously my own 14 years of work in campaigning to free Julian is done. This was a triumphant coda. Here I am looking very much younger making a speech outside the Ecuadorean Embassy on the day Julian entered it:
Here I am more than a decade later making a speech after his last High Court extradition appeal hearing:
It was a long, hard road in between, and one that took me across the world and caused me to meet so many wonderful campaigners and make so many wonderful friends, every one of whom contributed to the climate that eventually led to Julian’s release.
Enjoying champagne in Strassbourg with @Stella_Assange, @IFJGlobal president @DomPradalie, former British ambassador @CraigMurrayOrg and legal observer, @deepa_driver to celebrate @coe resolution on Julian #Assange based on @sunnago‘s report pic.twitter.com/1wT46p2KuR
— Stefania Maurizi (@SMaurizi) October 2, 2024
You can see Julian’s full speech and question and answer session here:
The Council of Europe is the grandfather of European institutions. It is not the European Union and is not the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe. The Council of Europe’s mandate is to promote democracy and human rights, and it was a key instrument of detente, although Russia has recently left in protest at hypocrisy in the Council’s targeting.
Unlike the European Union, the Council of Europe has no economic role. Unlike the European Parliament of the EU, which makes law in conjunction with the Council and Commission, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is not a legislative body. Nor is it directly elected.
National parliaments of the member states of the Council of Europe send delegates from among their members to comprise PACE. So it consists of national domestic MPs.
In the case of the UK, several of these are members of the House of Lords. We therefore had the anomaly that the judicial committee before which Julian appeared, in a European body dedicated to promoting democracy, was chaired by a British politician for whom nobody had ever voted, Lord Richard Keen, a Scottish Tory.
The subsequent debate passed a resolution which specifically recognised that Julian Assange had been a political prisoner. This was the only aspect of the report and resolution on which the Atlanticists attempted to mount a rearguard action. They did not attempt to remove the elements on freedom of speech and information, on US war crimes and ending impunity, on protection for whistleblowers, on abuse of judicial process, or on the appalling conditions of Julian’s detention. But they did try to remove the phrase political prisoner.
They failed. Only the extreme Atlanticists voted for the amendments to that effect, primarily from the British Conservative Party and the Polish Law and Justice Party. At the final vote on the resolution they could muster only 13 votes against to 88 for.
The reason that delegates from ALDE and the EPP supported the resolution in PACE, when their colleagues in the European Parliament blocked such action, is that party leaderships take much less control in PACE. It was therefore able to set up a committee to investigate the case, with an excellent report produced by its Icelandic rapporteur.
I spoke with three members of the committee who all told me they had been shocked by how much the true facts of the case diverged from media accounts.
The European Parliament by contrast has refused to look at the Assange case at all and both the EPP and ALDE have point blank refused to discuss it even at internal group meetings.
This PACE report has no enforcement clout, but it can make a real difference to perception. The PACE report and resolution on torture and extraordinary rendition, for example, to which I myself gave witness evidence, had a major effect on public and political opinion and in getting the media to accept those events as fact.
The European Court of Human Rights is a Council of Europe body. Resolutions of PACE are of interest to the ECHR. One thing we learnt from Julian is that his plea bargain contains provisions against him going to the ECHR over his treatment, and against making Freedom of Information requests.
I assume that if he breaks these conditions, there is a mechanism within the USA by which his prosecution or at least sentencing can re-open. But I cannot see how it could be enforced against him in Europe. The ECHR is not going to accept that the right to appeal over fundamental rights can be signed away in a coerced agreement, and I cannot see even the UK seeking to extradite somebody to the US because they appealed to the ECHR.
It appears unthinkable.
It may be relevant that among Assange’s strangely large entourage were the Belgian and French lawyers who had been specifically tasked with preparing his appeal to the ECHR had the UK courts ordered his extradition. So watch this space…
It is also of note that PACE has selected Sweden for a Periodic Review of its human rights record beginning next year. Those behind the selection proposed it specifically so that a report can be produced that takes a deep dive into the extraordinary concoction of sexual assault allegations against Assange and their misuse by the authorities, as detailed in Nils Melzer’s remarkable book. So again, watch this space…
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What gutless creeps journalists of all kinds are. They can shove their cheers up their crapholes.
It makes me think of South African rich white professional types who claim today that they were silent opponents of white supremacy.
I do not really know what to think of this. After all, this the same EU and even same politicians that have not lifted a finger but have supported the harassement of Assange for so many years. Now, when he is somewhat “free” the same EU, politicians flock around him.
As Brian Red said above my comment, It was the same when Mandela was released but also when he passed away, suddenly many of european governments that had supported the apartheid-regime and the jailing of the ANC now suddenly posed as they had always been against apartheid.
Nobel peace prize coming up in some weeks, who would be a better winner than Assange.
Council of Europe, not EU, as Craig says.
Richard Keen was Advocate General for Scotland (2015 to 2020).
At the end of August Catherine Smith was elevated to the post of Advocate General (and life Peer to be confirmed). This being the position tasked with advising the UK Government on the Scots law.
In truth, this has always been a political appointment and the office holders have not necessarily been top tier legal authorities to the same degree as is required to become Lord Advocate.
Catherine Smith dabbled in the covert intelligence world in her younger days, being involved with political influencing operations in the countries of the former Soviet Union. In this, she was very much following in her mother’s footsteps.
The position of Advocate General may be substantially an honorific one, but the danger here is that Keir Starmer asks for advice on Scots law (say to to with the devolution settlement) and gets a bespoke answer from Smith. There would be little concern regarding this given that the opinion of the Lord Advocate would naturally blow any adverse advice from Smith out of the water, but could we trust John Swinney to seek such an opinion?
They controlled everything he ate and drank for years in prison. Sadly I have to say I would not put anything past them. The whole thing has been so malicious from start to now. Assange should rest up, detox and get thoroughly checked over and monitored.
You got the title of this story bang on by the way. How odd. Where were they all during Assange’s darkest hours. Completely missing. They clearly all know what cowards they were and what they were doing (or not doing) at the time. It’s fucked up. This is them whitewashing themselves in a way… very strange people. So many of them as well. Suddenly en mass they emerge like cockroaches the instant they sense the new direction the wind is blowing. Shameless.
Look at the bright side of things. This is happening because of, as you put it, the new direction in which the wind is now blowing.
‘the 100 or so media representatives all stood and joined in the applause. I need to stress this was largely not the alt media, but the legacy media in all its pomp.’
Glad that you mentioned later on that these hypocrites were the ones defaming him.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes Assange as long to get over his ordeal as it did to inflict it on him. Apropos, I hope that you are taking it easy whenever you can.
MSM journalists are fickle creatures, like a yellow streak down a cowards back, hypocrisy runs down the spines of most of them, as for their principles.
“These are my principles. If you don’t like them I have others.”
Groucho Marx.
The Fascists never give up – they must beaten and de-fascisted, as The Red Army are doing, again.
Thanks for the report CM.
I supposed it will not be available in the msm in any detail, if at all.
Important about difference between European Parliament and Council of Europe and where the ECHR fits in.
No doubt that Brave SurKeev the Great Knight Dope, jailer of Assange without a trial, witch-finder general who pursued JA with the fake Swedish rape charges – should be accused of his personal role in the PACE report.
Yes – let JA have a break – he seemed perturbed by reactions and peoples – if any of the ANC or even SinnFein prisoners are still alive, they may help.
JA is guaranteed statesman status wherever he will travel from now on – they won’t dare try to bundle him away anymore.
Their great plans were progressed that he would have possibly revealed – Syria, Ukraine, Covid, GND…
Now the Fascists and the ZioFascists – The Nato Fascists; Natzios for short – are moving on with their ‘Wall’ around the ‘Garden’, there are many more voices to silence as they get ever more demented in that whackamole futility.
There are many being cancelled by the monopoly social media outfits, whose techbrat supposed ‘liberal’, ‘libertarian’, ‘woke’, ‘apolitical’ so i justice warrior – BILLIONAIRES, working as the fronts of the Collective Wasted Deepstates are ratcheting down on.
The selected leaders act like ancient bloody monarchs of Anglo European Imperialism, going back a millenium, where the Royals claimed God-given rights, and Peasants, Serfs and Subjects had to always bow down before even the most delinquent behaviours of the monarchy. Everyone had to avert their eyes and not look such glorious power directly in their eyes – challenging their fake power over all they surveyed and owned and taxed for their gold lenders.
Who’s next for the JA treatment?
‘ 🅰pocalypsis 🅰pocalypseos 🇷🇺 🇨🇳 🅉 retweeted
Glenn Diesen @Glenn_Diesen
2h
A few weeks ago I was warned that YouTube was purging accounts critical of US/NATO wars. Two days ago they came for me and deleted my account without warning. Their AI had allegedly detected “hate speech” – obviously without any evidence. Please follow me on Rumble or Telegram‘
Listen. Gather. F*** the Fascists.
P.S. another Palestine protest in London – won’t get coverage again.
River To The Sea.
DunGroanin.
The man himself – on that very subject.
https://glenndiesen.substack.com/p/american-censorship-intensifies-in
Here in the US, prosecutors and other officials can be sued for the tort of malicious prosecution, especially if charges are dismissed or dropped. Any equivalent in the UK and/or Sweden?
DunGroanin
Not the Red Army but the far smaller, less motivated and more corrupt Russian Army.
And of course the Russian Army are not de-Nazifying/”de-fascisting” Ukraine. Just attempting a land grab on behalf of Putin and his gang.
Never mind Putin saying he was not interested in Ukrainian territory. Of course he’s lying, isn’t he, while NATO sources tell the truth. (/s).
Laguerre
Putin promised in early 2022 that he wouldn’t invade Ukraine.
Now his regime have enacted constitutional amendments purporting to incorporate 4 Ukrainian oblasts into Russia.
So yes. He is a murderous liar.
All the Ukie fanboys have this definitive promise, which I don’t remember at all. I suspect it’s wildly overdone. All while omitting to mention the constant dribble of announcements that NATO nuclear weapons would be installed in Ukraine. I’m unimpressed.
The West’s war in Ukraine is nothing about defending democracy and all about buying up their land and controlling its food and mineral assets. I’ve heard it said that US-backed corporations now own more Ukrainian land in the west than Russia is occupying in the east.
Why does the largest country in the world with plenty of land and resources per capita NEED any more?
That’s why ‘we’ have been trying to destroy and take it with our fascist wars. Proxy and direct. For centuries. Including this one. Failed again.
Russians are richer than they have ever been and building as much modern infrastructure as they want, and the most impressive welfare state in Europe now.
They have friends everywhere in the global south and Kazan will be the New Bretton Woods.
Cry harder. Cry more. Weep for the Dead Empire. The Multipolar is unstoppable.
Typo: “...Russia has recently left in process at hypocrisy in the Council’s targeting…”
—
[ Mod: Amended to “protest”. Thanks. ]
Still not correct. Russia was kicked out on the 16th March 2022 following it’s illegal invasion of another member state.
Pears Morgaine.
Now that you mention Russia.
This will really piss-off the EU and Nato, as the Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, wants to visit Moscow next year – to commemorate the 80th anniversary, of the ending of WWII.
Recently there was an assassination attempt (which failed) on his life – although he was shot multiple times he survived – Fico opposes sending aid to the Neo-Nazi ran regime in Ukraine – for which, it looks like an assassination attempt occurred against him. The Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili, has already had a veiled threat from the EU aimed at him – citing what happened to Fico – so take from that, on which body might have put into action Fico’s attempted assassination.
The attempts to assassinate Trump (who is also opposed to the Ukraine war) are obviously connected. The latest would-be assassin has undeniable ties to the Ukrainian government.
He was turned away by Ukraine. What we do know about him is that he’s a fantasist with some mental health problems. You’d have thought they’d have hired someone more reliable.
@Pears – It’s quite possible that with some more training (topic 1: ghillie suit; topic 2: how to obscure stuff on visible spectrum when wearing one – boots, gun barrel, gun scope, perspiration shine, watch buckle, etc. etc.; topic 3: what to do about thermal imaging; topic 4: elements of counter-sniping), he’d have brought it off.
The incident in Pennsylvania with the first guy was much more peculiar than the Florida golf club event. No camouflage and lying on a roof?!!
RoS
Who are the neo-Nazis that “ran” Ukraine in your opinion?
We need to know.
JK redux.
Zelensky his cabinet and his military commanders – none have any qualms about allowing well know Neo-Nazi military brigades, such as the Kraken, the Aidar, and the Azov – the latter, now renamed the 3rd Assault Brigade – to hide what they really are, to kill Ukrainian citizens in the East of the country, or any dissidents that don’t agree with their agenda.
Infact the entire country has problem with Neo-Nazism – beginning with the lauding of their national hero Stepan Bandera – and then there’s the Svoboda party – not as influential now – but in 2014 this Neo-Nazi party played its part – of which the reverberations are still being felt today.
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ukraine-svoboda-party-building-close-relations-germanys-neo-nazi-npd-party-1440899
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27173857
RoS
So Ukraine was never run by neo-Nazis. (Though some ultra nationalists had influence 10 years ago.)
Grand.
I think many of them were the ones holding guns in the Ukranian Parliament. After Yukanovich fled (sorry, “left”).
It was on telly at the time. Even the BBC reported it.
They were definitely not Liberal Democrats.
What’s more interesting is the far right ‘Freedom’ Party in Austria which has stated support for Putin. You’d have thought they’d be backing their fellow ‘Neo-Nazi’ regime in Ukraine; if such a thing existed of course…
Many neo-Nazis outside Russia admire Putin, even if some Russian neo-Nazis aren’t so keen on him because he’s too wimpy for them and they think he’s of German or Jewish descent.
There are no doubt Neo-Nazis in Russia but do you think that with 33 million dead after fighting the real Nazis that the Russian population would back Putin backing Neo-Nazis?
‘ Oh those Russians………. ‘ Boney M
These days every party that attempts to persue the interests of their own country is smeared as “far right” or “far left” or “Putin’s 5th column” and so on.
This brings to mind the stark inconsistences of the utterances of Donald Trump, such as:-
“I love WikiLeaks”
Later to be followed by:-
“I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It’s not my thing and I know there is something having to do with Julian Assange. I’ve been seeing what’s happened with Assange,”
There you have it – and – did someone say – consistency and principle?
Great to hear Julian lay it all out so fearlessly and as clear as a bell. I hope he quickly gets back to sticking it to them. There have been few eras in greater need of fearless, adversarial investigative journalism yet in the Anglophone world it has all but ceased to exist. To wit, despite your hopes, there is zero chance any new exposes by Julian will be headlined by the likes of the Guardian or the NYT as when he first appeared on the scene. The liberal press is orders of magnitude worse today – completely shameless propaganda arms of the security state. The European Parliament too, an empty shell that just reelected Frau Genocide to a fresh half decade in the EU boss seat. You know much better than to be fooled by these arch-establishment stooges. They have not very suddenly changed.
Seeing the first two videos, I thought that Craig is a leader, perhaps he should be an MP. 🙂
In Assange’s video I was struck by the point he made about injustice spreading, as governments seek to apply misguided laws intended for a specific class of people to a wider group. He made a general case for great care in drafting legislation on the ground that it is liable to abuse.
Regarding the one-sided UK/US extradition treaty – I wonder which political parties might be in favour of ending it, together with the UK’s vassal status? Something to remember for future bye-elections and general elections.
Hopefully Assange will now have an unhurried and full recuperation with his wife and family back in Australia.
Craig did run for a seat in Parliament in the election of last July 4. Unfortunately, he was defeated.
“Seeing the first two videos, I thought that Craig is a leader, perhaps he should be an MP”.
Well, which? It’s either one or the other. Mark Twain unintentionally summed up our modern MPs over a century ago:
“To create man was a fine and original idea; but to add the sheep was a tautology”.
And:
“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctively native American criminal class except Congress”.
Twain wrote about members of Congress since he was American, but the principle is identical.
Also,
“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself”.
Curious about that creation quote because I’d guessed Twain was an evolutionist, which he apparently was. He once met Charles Darwin, who seemingly read Huckleberry Finn. In 1903 he wrote an article “Was the World Made for Man?” satirizing Wallace’s late-life idea that evolution was supernaturally guided to humans.
Anyway the creation quote is from St. Louis Post-Dispatch 30 May 1902, which seems to be a reporter talking about a visit with Twain to his childhood home, but what I found was paywalled.
In 1905 in The Refuge of the Derelicts, Twain has a character talking about how we can’t have filial affection for germs but instead Adam (the one with Eve). Includes another reference to Congress: “then a raft of fishes, all kinds, then cross the whole lot and get a reptile, then work up the reptiles till you’ve got a supply of lizards and spiders and toads and alligators and Congressmen and so on, then cross the entire lot again and get a plant of amphibiums, which are half-breeds and do business both wet and dry”
In case it wasn’t clear, the smile icon was an indication of a joke. I know about Craig’s past attempts to get elected to Parliament.
I wish Julian and his family all the best for the future! He shouldn’t rush things. He really is the last person who should be expected to do anything. He has already contributed more than can ever be expected of an individual.
Agreed.
His work speaks for itself.
There is not much to add to that.
fact is- until the guardians of truth and justice take on the US and it’s Sate apparatus then the applaud is fake – hypocritical or arse covering
The MSM who never said a good word about his work at the time are applauding for show.
Re: Russia and it’s invasion ( Special Operation?)
Like the history clock only starts at Oct 7th 2023 – then the Russian invasion had no prelude?
No cause?
If we go for the – ‘ You started it ‘ juvenile nonsense we could all blame Adam and Eve.
Or – if you are religious God.
MR ARK CUTTS.
The bellicose BullyBoys Club Nato – wants to expand its forces.
NATO wants to form an additional 49 combat-ready brigades, bringing their total number to 131 – it is noted that in order to manage and support these troops – the number of combat corps, must be increased from six to fifteen, and the headquarters of divisions from 24 to 38. In addition – the alliance plans to increase the number of air defense units fivefold – from 293 to 1467.
The Yanks are building up their proxy European troops – to sacrifice them in a war with Russia – the sad thing is that the Europeans are too stupid, to see this – or their leaders are complicit in the demise of Europe.
RoS
Putin is far too clever to fall for that evil NATO plan.
He will simply keep his armies within his borders and by doing so he will confound their strategies.
I’d say so anyway.
Apart from those already in Ukraine, Georgia, Syria and carrying out state grabs in various parts of Africa; where things aren’t always going their way.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/29/africa/russian-mercenaries-wagner-killed-mali-intl-latam/index.html
Pears Morgaine.
A fat lot of good that Ukrainian Neo-Nazi ambush did – Mali cut ties with the Ukrainian regime because of it – and it won’t be last African country to do so.
I’d imagine that most countries will be cutting ties with Mali before too long, RoS, since, thanks to its current idiot junta, it’s likely to be the first (or maybe second*) sovereign state to be controlled by Al-Qaeda.
* Mustn’t forget Burkina Faso.
Lapsed Agnostic.
Unlikely – the (AES) will grow, and strengthen – and China and Russia will further expand into Africa at the Wests expense.
Thanks for your reply RoS. Have you been following what’s been happening in Mali? JNIM (the local AQ franchise) are launching large-scale raids into the capital Bamako now. Apart from France, the West doesn’t give a shit about the AES states – and Russia, which has got more than enough on its plate, doesn’t care hugely about them, especially since its Wagner forces there keep getting battered by the Tuaregs etc.
Lapsed Agnostic.
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) – is a Western backed terrorist group, that also attacked Burkina Faso and Niger – and we have a pretty good idea why – these Sahel countries have had enough of Western colonialism – and they appear to be moving into the Chinese/Russian sphere of influence – so the West will up its terrorist attacks in these countries via their proxies – until they succeed and install a puppet leader – or their proxies are crushed. I suppose the West would like to see most African countries end up in a similar state as what they left Libya in – let’s hope the West’s colonialism in Africa is crushed once and for all.
Thanks for your reply RoS. JNIM is not a Western-backed terrorist group. On the contrary, until recently, the West (mainly in the form of the French) was actively fighting it in Mali, and before that its predecessors Al Mourabitoun & Ansar Dine, long before the latest coup(s). The reason that they’re no longer doing so is because they got kicked out by the junta – who shortly after also kicked out the long-standing UN peace-keeping mission MINUSMA to throw their lot in with the Wangers (or Africa Corps as they’re officially known these days), whose tiny contingent has done little but commit war crimes against civilians (plus ca change) and piss off the Tuaregs etc. If you’ve been following recent events, you’ll know that JNIM has also attacked Benin & Togo, killing scores of their soldiers. Are those countries members of AES? No, they’re still in ECOWAS. The EAS countries are moving to nowhere but the Al-Qaeda/ISIS sphere of influence/control.
Lapsed Agnostic.
You almost – but not quite, sounded convincing on that comment, until you mentioned ECOWAS – the next time you try to convince someone of something in Africa – don’t mention the US linked African body of ECOWAS – some of the Sahel countries that have been suspended from it – know what it is – Russia, has warned the US puppet organisation – and its President, Touray, not to attack the countries that have defied ECOWAS – hence the next best thing for the Yanks – is to use terrorist proxy fighters to do their bidding.
Thanks for your reply RoS. ECOWAS is not a US puppet organisation – it’s an economic and political collaboration between various West African states. Its members engage in trade & economic co-operation with many countries, including ones that the US doesn’t much like – such as China, whose companies were given massive contracts to expand bauxite production in Guinea when it was still a member. Since then, it, Mali, Niger & Burkina Faso have been suspended from ECOWAS after they each were subject to military coups by incompetent juntas. Even though it had been suspended, both the French & MINUSMA would have been willing to protect southern Mali from take-over by JNIM if they hadn’t been thrown out. Do you have any evidence that JNIM and/or IS Greater Sahara Province are doing the US’s bidding? I’ll wait.
Top Man – so good to see him free.
Was it just my impression or was that a direct snub to the German woman (question right at the end) who “had known him since the Equador Embasy” – to whom he replied “I’m a bit tired” and passed the question on to the bloke beside him?
This post (on substack) has a full and annotated TRANSCRIPT of the PACE session with Julian Assange (1 Oct 2024) plus links for the 2 Oct 2024 Plenary session, follow up interviews with Stella, Assange Kristinn Hrafnsson and the Rapporteur Sunna, plus links to three discussion panels.
“Julian Speaks: a free man among friends, at last” at
https://lafleurproductions.substack.com/p/julian-speaks-a-free-man-among-friends
There is also a PDF you can download of the whole thing.
Is he really free with a plea bargain agreement hanging over him ?
Is he really amongst friends given the accusers are the ones applauding ?
I’m happy he is now free to spend time with his family and friends but the real enemies are close and still free.
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.”
Craig says (above) that his “own 14 years of work in campaigning to free Julian is done”. And a magnificent job he has done!!!
An INDEX to all his entries related to Assange since the US extradition process began can be found here:
“Craig Murray on the Julian Assange Show Trial – Our Man in the Public Gallery”
https://lafleurproductions.substack.com/p/craig-murray-on-the-julian-assange
“One thing we learnt from Julian is that his plea bargain contains provisions against him going to the ECHR over his treatment…”
I watched his speech live and that jumped out at me – because the “Plea Agreement” signed by Assange does not contain anything about going to the ECHR.
The Plea Agreement was filed in the Court and is available online (a 23 page pdf). I have read it thoroughly, several times. What it DOES contain, at clause 20, is a waiver of:
“any and all rights, claims, demands, suits, causes of action, expenses, damages, judgments, orders and liabilities arising directly or indirectly at law, contract or equity, out of the United States Department of Justice’s criminal investigation, extradition, and/or prosecution of the Defendant or in connection thereto, which he may now, or in any future time, be entitled to bring before any competent authority (in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, or worldwide) and/or any court, tribunal or other judicial body (in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, or worldwide). The Defendant, on behalf of himself and the Releasing Parties, hereby releases and forever discharges all and/or any actions, claims, rights, demands and set-offs, whether in this jurisdiction or any other, and whether in law or equity, that he ever had, may have or hereafter can, shall or may have against the United States arising out of or connected with the United States Department of Justice’s criminal investigation, extradition, and/or prosecution of the Defendant.”
It would not be a breach of the Agreement for him to try to bring some sort of claim in the ECHR, but if he tried he could expect this clause to be raised to defeat any such claim – especially if the claim was “against the United States”.
On the other points about leaving him alone – glad to. For the last three months of total silence from him many people were concerned. Now I’ve seen and heard him speak for himself, and listened very closely to what he did and didn’t say, I’m convinced that he has no desire to speak directly to the supporters and that this is his own choice. Good luck to him in whatever he decides to do in the future.
There are some very anxious people who donated a lot of money to the “AssangeDAO” ($56million in total, and which was used to pay the charter flight costs of $780,000) who are wanting him to speak to them about what direction that organisation should take. Hopefully he can sort that out when he feels up to it.
It does seem utterly wrong for anyone to be coerced into trying to renounce his legal rights, let alone human rights. Whatever happened to “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”? Or is the US Declaration of Independence, like so many other legal and quasi-legal documents, now regarded as purely ornamental?
From the signing section of the Plea Agreement (on page 22):
“I have read this Plea Agreement and have carefully reviewed and discussed every part of the agreement with my attorney. I understand and voluntarily enter into this Plea Agreement. Furthermore, I have consulted with my attorney about my rights, I understand those rights, and I am satisfied with the representation of my attorney in this case. No other promises or inducements have been made to me, other than those contained in this Plea Agreement and no one has threatened or forced me in any way to enter into this Plea Agreement. I am agreeing to plead guilty because I am guilty.
I further understand that if I am not a citizen of the United States, my guilty plea and conviction make it practically inevitable and a virtual certainty that I will be removed or deported from the United States. I agree that my attorney has told me this and that I still want to plead guilty.” [Signed: Julian Paul Assange, 24 June 2024]
And (on page 23) where his US Attorney certifies:
“I have read the Plea Agreement and have discussed the contents of the agreement with my client. The Plea Agreement accurately and completely sets forth the entirety of the agreement between the parties. I concur in my client’s decision to plead guilty as set forth in the Plea Agreement. There is no legal reason why the Court should not accept the Defendant’s plea of guilty.
I am also aware that my client is not a citizen of the United States, and that my client’s guilty plea and conviction make it practically inevitable and a virtual certainty that my client will be removed or deported from the United States. I have advised my client of this and my client still wants to plead guilty.” [Signed: Barry Pollack, 24 June 2024]
In those circumstances it would be extremely hard to make a legal argument that the person pleading guilty was “coerced” into doing so against their own free will. “Reluctantly” you could argue, but that doesn’t get you anywhere if you want to sign up to it and then say you didn’t want to sign up to it.
“Sign this plea agreement, or endure another period of torture – of unknown length – in Belmarsh prison.”
You don’t call that coercion?
“… unalienable”.
What kind of government asks a person to give up his *unalienable* rights?
It should be deemed illegal even to try to do so.
I somehow doubt that any agreement like the one Julian signed which surely was done under duress will find legitimacy in UK law, unless, of course, Vanessa Baraitser is the judge in which case the jury is still out.
“It was a long, hard road in between, and one that took me across the world and caused me to meet so many wonderful campaigners and make so many wonderful friends, every one of whom contributed to the climate that eventually led to Julian’s release”.
At last, a kind of climate change that we can all acknowledge and applaud!
I was impressed the way Stella guided and supported him, and the way he did not rise to the questions posed by Edward Leigh, Conservative Member: Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs (since 24/01/2022)
“….the 100 or so media representatives all stood and joined in the applause.” Please name, at least, the most hypocritical of these “media representatives”.
Thx for the article! Maybe include an option to donate via cryptocurrencies like bitcoin or Ethereum, then PayPal or the credit card company cannot decide to cancel subscriptions.
Thank you for your testimony from the council of Europe, Craig, it must have been hard to get the combned stench of those media whores out of your nostrils.
My apologies to all whores who offer a decent service for what they can get, no offense meant.
But those who take murderous mad press releases/excrement and filter them through their lifestyle-saving editorial control to end up with homogenous-smelling hyped-up shite, just to save their jobs, should go and f…k themselves.
I wish Julian and Stella a happy future, much time to clear his head from the past tortuous practices, the medication and the loss of free speech/recognition world wide.
He deserves all the time he needs, without interruption from anyone.
He should also be receiving the campaign funds accrued, for those who used his name, the unrelenting torture and state of affairs to garner money from concerned citizens, should be eager to ensure that his recuperation wants for nothing.
Julian Assange may never recover completely from the barbaric treatment inflicted by the British State. At the very least, he has lost – and we have lost – 14 years of his life. Even were he to recover completely, he is older and has less energy than his former self.
It’s no good complaining about the “journalists” who lied to the public for almost the whole of those fourteen years. The fact is simply that the mainstream media no longer employ real journalists. Partly this is because they have less money (newpapers have only a fraction of the circulation they used to have), partly it’s because they’re mostly owned by people who want to squeeze more profit out of them, and partly it’s the result of deep-state pressure (remember when the Guardian used to be a real newspaper, and TPTB sent a squad of goons to their office to make them destroy a disk drive containing copies of the Snowden revelations).
With all my heart, I wish Julian and his family well.
I have been following Julian’s ordeal for many years and supported rallies in sunshine as well as in the cold and rain. Your efforts have always caught my attention and I have admired your fearless delivery of the truth and exposure of the Establisment’s deceit. Please keep up the excellent work. Solidarity
As said several times before, best wishes for Julian Assange and his loved ones. May they all recover well from the terrible ordeal they’ve endured.
Meanwhile, what’s most peculiar in this ceremony in Strasbourg is not the flip-flopping attitude of the journalists. This was entirely expected, their constant lifeline being to ‘ride the wave’. Whichever way it goes.
What was really peculiar was hearing the hero of the day admit in public he was very tired after only 90 minutes of sitting and answering questions! Was it why he had to change at least ties after the top picture provided by our gracious host? Was it also why his spouse Stella entirely changed outfits between the event and the friendly champagne toast with Craig, who even pushed the modesty to drinking in a cardboard cup?
Whatever the reasons, let’s admit this ceremony was a little painful to watch. Even if we had the sad confirmation that part of the plea deal was abandoning all possible appeal procedures. Very sad, but also to be expected…
Wilshire,
well at least part of the explanation is that the champagne drinking with Stella was the following day
Julian is free, but has the world now changed such that truth speakers can freely talk ?
I’d say no, we are in a much worse place where speaking the truth or even disputing the lies carries heavy penalties for the man in the street, let alone professional journalists.
The west is totally infected with media and governmental corruption, I don’t see any hope on the horizon.
Julian should enjoy the rest of his life, retire from the front line fray and just serve as an elder statesman for truth and freedom.
‘Julian is free, but has the world now changed such that truth speakers can freely talk ? I’d say no, we are in a much worse place where speaking the truth or even disputing the lies carries heavy penalties….’
Talking of which, I just came across the following prior to coming on here, posted yesterday by Tony Greenstein:
Arrested for Saying that Israel is Doing What the Nazis Did – It is NOT the Job of the Police to Control Free Speech
Last Friday four Jewish people – Haim Bresheeth, an anti-Zionist Israeli, Jackie Walker, who was expelled as a result of the fake ‘anti-Semitism’ in Corbyn’s Labour Party, Stephen Kapos – a child survivor of the Hungarian holocaust and myself addressed about 100 people demonstrating outside the residence of Israel Ambassador, Tzipi Hotoveli.
I was the last of the 4 speakers. I made it clear that the genocide and ethnic cleansing, the bombing of hospitals, universities, schools, tent encampments as well as the starvation blockade reminded me of nothing so much as the behaviour of Nazi Germany….
https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2024/10/arrested-for-saying-that-israel-is.html
If Julian Assange were to call it a day and quit it would accord with the desired direction of travel spelled out at Davos last week.
John Kerry told the World Economic Forum, “The First Amendment stands as a major block to our ability to hammer [disinformation] out of existence.” He concluded that if Kamala Harris wins the US Presidential election then elite Democrats “will be free to implement change”.
John Kerry complains about First Amendment at Davos [GrayZone clip]
https://youtu.be/yOjBKlcDdOg?si=JqvVwQolPYgtwIDe
@Iain – That’s strange, because the President doesn’t have any role in amending the constitution.
Oh and 2/3 majorities are needed in both houses even to propose an amendment.
Is Harris planning to be a super Strongperson president who arms the DNC blue guard, gees them up with “Kill babies! Kill babies! Kill babies!” and gets AOC and Rashida Tlaib, flying Palestinian and Antifa colours, to storm the Capitol, arrest all the Republican legislators, and pass an enabling act à la Hitler in 1933?
Because if not, then what’s the practical plan for repealing the first amendment? Did John Kerry give any hints?
What relevance do you think the first amendment even has, in the internet age, anyway? The internet is private property FFS. The first amendment doesn’t say you can shout your head off about whatever you want if you’re on some rich guy’s land. (For an example, consider the services provided by the advertising and surveillance company whose webpage you link to.)
The clip is 90 seconds long, listen to him and decide for yourself. Of one thing you can be sure. When someone like John Kerry goes to Davos and bemoans the erosion of “consensus” opinion, it’s not the other wing of the US uniparty he is concerned about.
The voices that are upsetting him are those of the people that Democrats have been desperately trying to silence for a year now: those protesting their genocide. That’s who the target of free speech suppression measures will be.
Companies like Meta, Xitter and Google are no more “the Internet” than a National Express coach is a motorway. Maybe people are going to have to learn to drive. For example, this website is accessible regardless of those corporations. It can be moved from one hosting site to another without too much hassle and could even be put on a modest computer owned by Craig himself if it comes to it. The computer could be anywhere in the world. The Powers That Be may try to block it, as they seem to be doing with RT, by tampering with its DNS record but there are ways around that. If they want to go further, they can set up a Great Firewall but it would cost a lot and carry a significant political price.
Steve, you’re factually right, but in practice it doesn’t matter because most people only ever see Meta/Youtube/X/etc and only ever find other sites via Google (or possibly Bing).
I would bet that 99% of the population of the UK doesn’t know that Craig’s blog exists. Or declassifieduk.org or Julian Cole’s “Informed Comment”.
The Deep State doesn’t need to ban these sources, merely ensure that their readership is negligibly small.
Steve Hayes
[social media platforms] “are no more “the Internet” than a National Express coach is a motorway. ”
Bravo – Marshall McLuhan would applaud!
The MEDIUM is the MESSAGE!
Been looking for a simile/metaphor for years – I’ll borrow and use it if you don’t mind!
I am afraid there won’t be a recovery. Rule of thumb in the penetentiary system, after 10 years of prison (simply prison, not solitary) a person usually can’t integrate back into society due to a plethora of resulting mental issues. Solitary is far, far worse.
This is very likely to be true for ordinary people. But we all know that Julian Assange is very far from being ordinary. He will get over it eventually. And as he has already pleaded guilty to doing true journalism, he will probably become a REPEAT OFFENDER.
I watched it up to the point when he mentioned the war in Ukraine, and truly followed the EU line of the “Russian unprovoked aggression”, Russia’s banning of journalists, suppression of free speech, without being honest enough to mention the measures taken by the Ukraine government, the Ukrainian assassinations in Russia, their attempts to destroy the orthodox religion as it was, their harassing and incarcerating priest of that church, the Ukrainian regime’s killings of journalists and political opponents.
It was one sided, and maybe he was forced to do it in order to be able to talk in front of the collected russophobic bunch of what counts for EU politicians.
Better he had not mentioned the subject at all, instead of spewing one sided remarks, devoid of any context in the history of the conflict. To me he appeared to have been bought and sold to the public, at this moment a pathetic figure who lost my respect by being dishonest.
Peter Moritz
But of course the Russian invasion of Ukraine *was* unprovoked. Unless you believe that the UA was poised to invade Russia and Putin cleverly pre-empted it?
And as for
“their attempts to destroy the orthodox religion as it was, their harassing and incarcerating priest of that church”
the Russian Orthodox church is an an arm of the Russian state and it would have been folly for Ukraine to allow it to continue to organise there.
Can you tell more of “the Ukrainian regime’s killings of journalists and political opponents”?
Ironically the Putin regime is notorious for murdering its opponents. Or perhaps you believe that Navalny died of natural causes in the prison where he was incarcerated. (For what exactly?)
It’s also about time to remember, and remind others, that by a miraculous coincidence October 7 is first and foremost Vladimir Putin’s birthday. What a terrific present he got last year.
Well said. Luckily you weren’t moderated for saying it !
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/04/the-happy-go-lucky-jewish-group-that-connects-trump-and-putin-215007/
^ Putin and Chabad. Chabad is extremely important not just in the USA and Russia but in many other countries too, including Palestine.
But it’s not as simple as that, and I do NOT mean to imply that I think Putin is wholly owned by pro-Israeli interests. I don’t think he is. See for example Russian military involvement in Syria.
Interestingly Roman Abramovich is Chabad-connected.
Meanwhile on the 1 year mark since 7 October 2023, see this in the Heil:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13930881/youngster-sympathy-hamas-october-7-atrocity-israel.html
This contains the disgusting strapline: “Sickening figures reveal the significant minority of British youngsters who support Hamas, believe reports about October 7 are exaggerated or think the massacre of Jews was ‘justified’ ”
There is only one view that a humanitarian can take. It comes in two parts. Here they are:
1. If you can’t take a joke, don’t hold a big party just outside the fence of a concentration camp. Double no-no if you do it on land you stole from the people you put inside the camp.
2. Some people at the party were there other than of their own accord – namely the children. To those, of course sympathy is due.
To their supremacist fascist parents, nope. See 1.
It would be good to know what happened in The Maidan when the protesters were fired at and killed from hotel buildings and rooves.
Not saying that I know who did it, but Zelensky and his chums have not told anyone anything. They have not looked into it as far as I know. Plus the Trades Union building that was set on fire where many died.
My guess is that the far right in Ukraine have already seen the writing on the wall and if he goes for negotiations then it won’t be Russia who takes him out – it will be his own side. The ones he teamed up with initially. The one’s with The Maidan guns.
Florida’s nice in Winter I hear.Get out while the going’s good?
Dirty business is war and once it gets started it is irrelevant as to who started it. The relevant part is who’s going to win?
Sounds callous, but that’s the fact.
p.s. Of course all wars are a temporary win – no matter how powerful you are at the time.
If there’s a peace treaty, Zelensky will be long gone before it’s signed.
The Russians back-pedalled from 2014 to 2022 to avoid joining in the civil war in Ukraine, unlike the US and its Ukronazi proxy, if you want to lay blame, lay it equally.
Russia poured weapons and troops into the Donbas to support the separatists. Putin failed to keep his obligations under Minsk to withdraw. They were full on involved.
Pears, can you find any evidence for your above statement? Little Green men were disaffected Russian speaking ex-Ukrainian army who were not too keen on shooting their fellow Russian speakers, and perhaps there were some freelancers similar to those Westerners fighting with Ukraine, but no evidence of full-on Russian involvement that I am aware of.
Secondly, even pro-Ukraine people accept that Ukraine and it’s guarantors broke Minsk 2.
“But of course the Russian invasion of Ukraine *was* unprovoked. Unless you believe that the UA was poised to invade Russia and Putin cleverly pre-empted it?”
Provoked by The Ukraine’s persecution of its own russian population.
“the Russian Orthodox church is an an arm of the Russian state”
We know this how? But still, it’s the belief of a lot of ukrainians.
Mr Navalny was found guilty of founding and funding an extremist organisation.
“Ironically the Putin regime is notorious for murdering its opponents.”
Says someone.
” Or perhaps you believe that Navalny died of natural causes”
Why would I believe anything else?
The reasons for Navalny’s death interest them more than those of Mr. Kireyev.
Let me remind you that he was a member of the Ukrainian delegation, a participant in the Minsk negotiations at the very beginning of the war. He was shot in broad daylight by the Ukrainian security service in the center of Kiev near St. Sophia Cathedral and the Pechora court.
Stephanie Dujarric has called to investigate his death.
If this name is unfamiliar to you, I’ll remind you that he is a representative of the UN Secretary General.
However, those guilty of the execution were not punished.
Neither were those guilty of shooting at protesters and police on the Maidan.
Nor were those guilty of burning people in Odessa.
Moreover, that same Goncharenko is obviously a pyromaniac, recently noted for burning portraits of classics of Russian literature, bragging about it on social networks.
And then a whole team of commentators sees no problems with this Kiev regime, pretending not to notice numerous evidences of the openly Nazi character of this government. And how false it’s to say that Russia violated the Minsk agreements when Russia was not a party to them. While others from the “Normandy Four” – namely Merkel and Hollande – directly stated unequivocally that these agreements were a fake, in order to buy time and arm Ukraine.
Disgusting lies! I wish I knew what kind of institution teaches to cram so many lies into such short comments?
You’d have to be very naive not to understand that Russian forces were active in the disputed areas of Ukraine and that they supplied the heavy weapons that were supposed to have been withdrawn.
Pears, You have built up a certain image for yourself through your manner of commenting, which is why I usually ignore your attempts at jabs. But since you have launched a personal attack, I consider myself entitled to retort: I am not naive.
I rely on data that is presented by bodies that are too responsible to falsify it in a completely shameless manner. I mean, they can use an unfair interpretation, but they cannot outright lie about established facts.
https://www.osce.org/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine/512683
OSCE mission to Ukraine reports:
In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 18 and 20 February, the SMM recorded 2,158 ceasefire violations, including 1,100 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 591 ceasefire violations in the region.
Just read it. Try to use your brain while reading. Whatever is your bias, you cannot fake Math.
2158 vs 591 makes nearly 4 times greater increase in military activities. Then read the report and check the places of explosions – they are in Donetsk and Lughansk areas.
So, what’s your conclusion?
Please, let me return the courtesy. You’d have to be very naive not to understand that Kiev was not only active, but escalating their shelling.
The OSCE was unable to ascertain who was responsible for the ceasefire violations but as they occurred on the eve of Russia’s long-planned invasion it would be reasonable to conclude that they were part of a preliminary bombardment.
The OSCE mission in eastern Ukraine was deliberately hampered by Russia which only allowed them to monitor two of the eleven crossing points between Russia and Ukraine. Nonetheless they recorded the passage of thousands of vehicles.
https://www.oscepa.org/en/news-a-media/press-releases/press-2015/osce-parliamentary-assembly-adopts-resolution-condemning-russia-s-actions-in-ukraine
” Among more than 40 clauses, the approved text “calls on the Russian Federation to stop the supply and flow of heavy weaponry, ammunition, units of the Russian Armed Forces and mercenaries across the Russian border into eastern Ukraine [and] cease providing any military, financial or logistical aid to illegal armed groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.”
It also underscores “the need for the Russian Federation itself to meet in full its commitments in the 2014 Minsk Agreements and the 2015 Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, as well as to use its considerable influence over the pro-Russian illegal armed groups in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine to do the same.” “
“But of course the Russian invasion of Ukraine *was* unprovoked.”
JD redux.
I find the above utterly amusing – let’s see, what would an American POTUS do – if Russian nukes were placed within a three-minute striking distance from Washington/Whitehouse – I think we all know what would happen – in fact the Yanks have invaded countries for far less.
So where exactly were these ‘nukes’?
Prior to 2022 Russia had a 754 mile border with NATO, much of it not significantly further away than Ukraine, which was apparently not a problem.
Pears Morgaine
Don’t play coy with me – you know what the plan was, once the Yanks couped Ukraine in 2014 – Yankee nukes would’ve been placed, (once everyone in the Donbas was murdered by the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi brigades) as close to the border with Russia as possible – that had the shortest flight-time to Moscow.
And not just nukes but the US navy would have entered Sevastopol.
@Pears – You may wish to take a look at the military significance of German forces crossing the Rhine in 1936.
Remember The Cuban Missile Crisis?
1933 km to Washington DC from Cuba.
Too close for the US.
Nearly WW3.
History repeats itself.
Pretty simple for myself.
If the US doesn’t have a problem then let Ukraine join NATO tomorrow.
Then see what happens?
Europe first – maybe even plucky Britain first?
Of course this is where we came in.
Having US nuclear weapons doesn’t automatically happen with NATO membership. Only 5 out of 32 members currently do (Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belgium and The Netherlands). They have 20 each.
Rough distance from the Ukraine border to Moscow is 300 miles (480 km), from Latvia, a NATO member since 2004, 375 miles. So how is it that this 75 miles makes so great a difference it’s worth the spilling of so much blood and treasure? Latvia began accession talks with NATO in 2002 so Putin had at least a two-year window to invade without triggering Article 5. Up against a tiny country of less than 2 million people, his forces might’ve stood a chance of the quick victory that eluded them in Ukraine.
The difference between Ukraine and the Cuban Missile crisis is that the missiles were actually physically present in Cuba, not a figment of imagination, and the Soviet Union had tried to keep their presence secret.
Brian Red 20.22pm
Correct Brian.
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/11/02/the-obama-regimes-plan-to-seize-the-russian-naval-base-in-crimera/
The US doesn’t (officially) have any nuclear (or conventional) short-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching Moscow from Ukraine, RoS, because they were outlawed under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty, from which it only withdrew in 2019. If you’re working under the assumption that they have some secret, undeclared ones that they intend to install in Ukraine, then the Russians should be able to protect their capital simply by switching on their A-135 missile defence system, which they claim can intercept more than 30 intermediate-range ballistic missiles (which would be entering Moscow airspace at around Mach 5-6, rather than a mere Mach 3-4 for SRBMs) before it needs to be reloaded with fresh interceptors.
The weapons deployed are B61 gravity bombs, tactical weapons that currently would be delivered by F16s or Tornados. We’re told that both these aircraft are Cold War relics unable to penetrate Russia’s air defences so why all the concern?
Thanks for your reply Pears. The US’s primary delivery vehicle for the B61 is currently the B-2 stealth bomber, which having a radar cross-section of about 1 square foot, should be able to penetrate most of Russia’s airspace without being detected – we’ve all seen how effective Ukraine’s non-stealth one-way attack drones have been. The B-2 can be flown to Russia from airbases in Western & Central Europe, Turkey or the Far East – or direct from the US with air-refuelling. It doesn’t need an airbase in northern Ukraine.
Pears Morgaine @12.26pm.
No one mentioned Nato – we are talking about the US, which has nukes in the likes of Japan and even Taiwan – which are NOT Nato members, so placing Yankee nukes in Ukraine would be no problem whatsoever – in fact who’s to say that nukes aren’t already present in the Neo-Nazi-ran regime. With so many weapons already being sent to Ukraine, from so many nations that are propping this vile regime, I’d imagine sneaking in nukes would be quite easy.
US nuclear weapons were withdrawn from Taiwan and Japan in the early 1970s.
” in fact who’s to say that nukes aren’t already present in the Neo-Nazi-ran (sic) regime. ”
So you admit that the invasion has been ineffective?
Conversely who’s to say that they are. As the US has refused Ukraine permission to fire long range missiles into Russia it would seem unlikely.
In addition, the ones stationed in Japan during the Cold War didn’t have any cores. The only time there were any usable US nukes in Japan was shortly before two of them exploded above Hiroshima & Nagasaki.
Can you tell more of “the Ukrainian regime’s killings of journalists and political opponents”?
Sure thing, Taras:
Vasiliy Sergienko, kidnapped and killed April 4, 2014. Case unsolved.
Vladimir Martsishevsky, kidnapped and brutally beaten June 14, 2014. Died on June 15. Case unsolved.
Sergey Dolgov, disappeared June 18, 2014. Case unsolved.
Olga Moroz, killed March 15, 2015 at her home. Case unsolved.
Oles’ Buzina, killed April 16, 2015. 2 members of Praviy Sektor were indicted but nobody was ever sentenced.
Pavel Sheremet, killed July 20, 2016 by a car bomb. Case unsolved.
Gonzalo Lira was arrested and died in prison Jan 12, 2024. Just like Navalny.
Since most cases remain unsolved, it is hard to say if this is the government, the neo-nazi enthusiasts, or just corruption and common criminals are to blame.
Maybe but triumphs often are like that – it’s not always like footballers winning the trophy. Obviously there is plenty of evil in the western establishments but I think some good came through with the release of Julian Assange – that he wasn’t left to rot in jail for any longer or die in mysterious circumstances. Full marks to the Council of Europe for inviting him, and, needless to say, for your tireless and courageous work on his behalf, Craig.
My own two cents…
The precedent risk for journalists handling and publishing classified information facing espionage charges weighed heavy in the end. Press freedom is enshrined in the US constitution. Supporting this theory is the fact that Obama’s DoJ concluded, that any prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing documents posed a grave threat to press freedom. How would a possible future Trump administration have used such a law against his many opponents in the press and beyond?
The US was also frustrated by his cause célèbre status ; he’d become someone whose plight all other countries, like China and Russia could continually highlight, if ever the US were wagging an accusatory finger at them over press freedom.
Craig says, a better, fairer judge came along… how convenient.
In other words, I think the intention was only to keep him in a state of legal limbo for as long as possible.
Who in your view were the intended markets for the Chinese and Russian states’ efforts?
There’s a lot that’s opaque about the whole JA affair. Eric Schmidt of Google flew over to meet him, for example.
The release of the “Collateral Murder” video was an excellent anti-war effort, and Bradley Manning and those involved in releasing it deserve huge respect, but sadly it achieved little. (Those two statements don’t contradict each other.)
As for working with the New York Times and the Guardian, I thought that was as slurpy as f*ck. Lesson for those who didn’t already know is that the idea of working with the MSM and using “freedom of speech” against the system is bullsh*t nowadays, and it has been bullsh*t for a long time.
Another lesson is that whistleblowing by sending documents over the internet to some highly centralised organisation that will help you out may not be the way forward.
John Kerry’s vow at Davos last week seems to be part of a coordinated drive by the worst genocidal ghouls to severely restrict free speech.
They are not hiding their intentions.
Hillary Clinton said on CNN a couple of days ago that “we lose total control” if social media content is not more regulated. (The norm must be *total* control).
https://mynbc15.com/news/nation-world/hillary-clinton-warns-we-lose-total-control-without-social-media-content-moderation-politics-facebook-x-twitter-tiktok-meta-section-230
Kerry and Hillary’s complaints came quickly after Tim Walz’s warning in the vice presidential debate that ‘misinformation’ is not protected by the First Amendment.
https://reason.com/2024/10/03/tim-walz-jd-vance-free-speech-censorship-debate-veep/
The genocidaires are determined that in the near future their narrative will be the only one that is legally permissible. They are being quite open about it.
iain
There is an ex-State high-up Intelligence gatherer who said that around 70% plus of all internet nodes (the crossing point of all the world’s connections assume) run into the US. He also said that nearly all web addresses and registrations and permissions are held in the US too.
Can’t remember his name but he was fascinating to listen to.
So the US if it wanted to could certainly block what it didn’t want the populace to hear.
No expert of course but as some one once said:- The Internet is materially real and The Cloud is a myth – there is no Cloud, just cables.
The same cables that go to the US.
Oh for sure and they are itching to do it. John Kerry seems to think a Democrat victory will give them the legitimacy. (Presumably because Walz suggested it and, it will be claimed, people have now enthusiastically voted for it). The goal of these elites is to permanently transform the Internet into a giant ‘consensus’ (ie centrist establishment) echo chamber along Guardian ‘Comment Is Free’ lines. Any heterodox, dissenting opinions disappeared before the eyes, on ‘safety’ grounds. They seem absolutely determined to make it happen now, as early as next year.
Mark. Don’t know that that is still the case ?
Anyways, here’s an interesting visualisation, many more are available:
https://kmcd.dev/posts/internet-map-2024/
‘The Internet’ was originally developed by DARPA as a means to provide a communications network that could survive a nuclear attack. Hence, the USA bias
It’s worth noting that ‘The Cloud’ is essentially just a remote server farm, nothing new, just a new name for something that has been around since the sixties or earlier. The real question is where are these data farms located and who has jurisdiction there. The USA features heavily.
Most major Internet nodes act as a data collection point for the spooks. For example, GCHQ has outposts in Oman and Cornwall, to name two node points, they hoover up ‘all’ traffic that passes through.
All internet traffic is vulnerable, even if encrypted and using VPNs.
Of the commercial VPNs, the consensus seems to be that Proton is the best ,and they allow you to use the trusted, easily audited, lightweight, open source WireGuard. WG’s code is like only 2,000 lines or something, whereas OpenVPN’s by contrast is ~20,000. I was checking Proton out and it’s a Swiss based company: Good – as their data protection laws are among the best in Europe. However, the only ‘concern’ is the fact their CEO, Andy Yen, self-describes himself as a leading Hong Kong democracy activist. Now, this is just my opinion, but I find it hard to believe someone crossing swords with the Chinese state like that, isn’t connected to MI6 and/or the CIA in some way. I’m not in any way suggesting he is, but it makes you wonder. All the other commercial VPNs are crap btw, likely truly compromised.
If obsessed with anonymity, the best way is by setting up a VPS server for yourself, then using Wireguard or OpenVPN. But even then, it’s difficult to know if the hosting company is legit. Aside from Assange level investigative journalism I don’t see the point, personally.
@Goose – No VPN will give you security. Did you know Tim Berners-Lee was on the board of Proton? Enough said.
Brian Red
The beauty of a virtual private server (VPS), is you can configure it yourself, i.e. if you run your own VPN server on a VPS (Virtual Private Server), you’d typically also install a DNS resolver on the same VPS. You can configure IP masquerading in the server firewall. If a state tries to block VPN connections based on port numbers. You can wrap the VPN traffic inside a TLS tunnel to hide the fact that you are using a VPN. and any VPN bans will be ineffective.
With commercial VPNs, they could be collecting DNS lookups, because, generally you have to use their chosen DNS servers, so while they may not monitor you traffic per se (as the terms state) they may monitor your DNS activities on their DNS servers, depending on how they have things configured.
There is a good commercial 2024 VPN review on Youtube from Chris Titus here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPf1q_YLaKQ
It all depends on what you want a VPN for – what you’re trying to do, as Chris Titus says.
As he states, setting up OpenVPN and Wireguard locally, either on a home server or router, is perfect for people on the go who want to connect securely to browse the internet, or check their emails, using some sketchy wi-fi network.
A commercial VPN can even be fine for those wanting simply to get around geolocking; Chris says he sometimes watches UK’s Netflix for different shows, not available in the US this way, and I know people in the UK do the same with US shows.
A VPN server on a remote VPS is best for those in oppressive countries, or where the user wants or needs more anonymity; such as an investigative journalist.
So, it’s all dependent on use-case scenario really.
@Goose – I don’t process three-letter acronyms well. How does a person connect this virtual private server to the internet? How does it send and receive traffic from other people’s nodes without anyone knowing its physical location, MAC addresses, and so on? We assume it’s not running any Google software, whether badged as Google property, based on Google code (as Edge and Opera are), or within the operating system it’s running on.
Consider as the model case a person sitting at home typing stuff on a laptop which connects to a router, which connects to a landline supplied to them by a normal internet supplier. I’m not sure where encryption comes into play with your virtual private server set-up, but let’s assume the encryption serves some of its function OK and the person wants to impede bog-standard traffic analysis.
Brian Red
Basically you’re connecting via an encrypted tunnel to a server that’s in some other country e.g. Europe or even outside Europe and all your ISP sees is that tunnel. Your DNS lookups are done on the server via unbound or similar https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/projects/unbound/about/, and your (UK) IP address never leaves the (remote)server.
Hosted servers can be had for as little as £12 per year – typically far cheaper than a commercial VPN.
Ideally, you’d have some Linux command line understanding, to do the setup, via ssh, for both the server and the local client (configurations), or have someone who is into Linux and networking set it up for you.
Once setup, configured and up and running these can be very reliable and secure.
Many Chinese and others in countries with oppressive censorship regimes use these kind of setups to bypass censorship. And China’s Great Firewall, as you can imagine is sophisticated: DPI, addresses, port numbers associated with VPNs, and more recently Server Name indication (SNI) used to block traffic.
Your MAC address (48 bits hexadecimal) is purely for local (LAN) -identifying actual hardware interfaces. It’s Layer 2 on the OSI and concerns sending data to the correct individual clients on local networks – this is how multiple people can use network devices at the same time. Nobody should have your MAC address (as it’s stored in the router/switch filter tables). IP addresses (Layer 3) are used to send data to remote networks e.g. servers.
Interesting aside. One of the issues with IPv6 auto host configuration (IPv6 is 128 bits) was how the client’s 48 bit MAC was incorporated into IPv6 64 bit EUI by sticking in FF FE, to make it 64 bits (not a good idea – better to randomise, so individual clients can’t be tracked)
https://networklessons.com/ipv6/ipv6-eui-64-explained
I had to study this stuff for the CCNA R&S course I did.
I even started putting together a homelab at one point, but my interest kinda waned. As you learn, one thing you do realise, is that despite all the corporate consolidation we’re seeing, and increasingly hysterical political censorship demands, the underlying technologies are fairly resilient to anyone trying to take total control. Oh, and the fact open source software developers are really underappreciated; especially by those same big corporations that profit from their efforts e.g. developers the memory safe programming language ‘Rust’ frequently complain at the lack of support from the corporate giants who are using their software.
The cloud is when you let companies keep your data for you. Funny how standing up against the wall and spreading them when Google gives you the command (Google being the company that tracks almost all instances of browsing to almost all webpages outside China) is sold as having more power over your life.
A “smartphone” is a handheld computer and microwave tracker. It is little to do with making or receiving phone calls.
A “smartwatch” is a wrist-worn computer that also tracks your body’s internal functions. It is little to do with telling the time. This is a very interesting one, being already in widespread use among rich males in certain countries, who treat their heart rates and the number of farts they release every hour as akin to the numbers in their beloved bank accounts and investment portfolios. They don’t view themselves as anything like offenders who have been allowed to live outside of prison only on condition that they wear electronic tags. There are a few steps left between now and the mass microchipping decreet, but do NOT expect any resistance from this quarter when the decree is issued.
Guesses as to what the microchip implant will be called? This isn’t something that can be “worked out” logically, by homing in on the answer by taking a dictionary and ruling out all the words and morphemes until only a few are left.
My guess? It will involve the word “life”.
I’ve found the guys name.
He’s called William Binney, ex-NSA.
A genuinely smart man – not my politics, but he is sharp.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzhj2xUXLmg
MR MARK CUTTS.
A wee bit more on Binney.
https://wikispooks.com/wiki/William_Binney
I think you are right, Iain. The truth is becoming apparent, and as we begin to say, hay, that’s not supposed to happen, we realise we have realised too late. The EDL is a proscribed extremist nationalist political movement with risks of potential for violence, and so it is not allowed to stand candidates for parliament. Labour Friends of Israel and Conservative Friends of Israel have taken over our democracy. They decide that only Zionist Jews or their spouses can stand for election to Leader. Democratic integrated Jews have been expelled. This is a coup and if we are to say that Friends of Israel are proscribed organisations with potential for terrorism, and so not allowed to make donations to political parties or MPs, then the evidence of our concerns may quickly come to the fore.
Reading Ilan Pappé’s book about the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and the extremely detailed plans that were drawn up to neutralise any opposition from any quarter, makes me realise that we are coming close to that level of control in Britain and the US. It is time that our spooks weeded out the infiltrators and weighed the national security of Great Britain – extricated from this stranglehold of Zionism. We have been used to rule of law based on truth and justice and this is absolutely crucial to international peace. Extremism of all kinds needs to be proscribed, but openly and lawfully, and not by shutting down other points of view.
The EDL is not a proscribed terrorist organisation. Principally because it no longer exists as a cohesive entity.
Direct Action is though.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proscribed-terror-groups-or-organisations–2/proscribed-terrorist-groups-or-organisations-accessible-version
Pears Morgaine.
Yeah, they gave up the pretence – and renamed it the Jewish Defence League – before it was “dissolved”.