The irony of those conducting wars that have cost enormous loss of civilian life - and who have studiously avoided publicising how many - accusing the wikileaks founder of having blood on his hands is palpable.
I suspect Mr Assange could end up finding out first hand how the US security and intelligence services deals with those it perceives to be enemies. He's a brave man to do what he's been doing and is probably well aware that it's the whistleblower that ends up (if very lucky) facing criminal charges, not the perpetrators of any criminal acts they exposed. As people who passed information to Wikileaks are discovering for themselves.
I thought after 9/11 that 'terrorism' should be treated as crime not war and international law should be strengthened, not weakened, in response. Instead terrorism has become the excuse for the most powerful nation in the world to ignore international law and engage in a protracted war against Iraq (that had no role in 9/11), international abductions (watch out Julian)and in torture and imprisonment without trial. As far as winning hearts and minds, the war against terror has been a failure, has weakened the will of the mainstream media to be critical (don't want to be considered a traitor by failing to show full support) with the loss of good information that is essential to reasoned debate within democracies and has, as all occupying forces do, hardened resistance amongst lots of people who otherwise would not have considered it to be about them.
Make no mistake, the perpetrators of that mass murder needed to be tracked down and brought to justice, but the doctrine of all theatre domination and unshakeable conviction within the Hawks of the US military that it could achieve quick and easy victory seems naive in retrospect.