Pilger's support for the "preservation of basic freedoms in western democracies" is wafer thin. He cares nothing for private property, for example, one of the most basic of all.

And whatever criticisms can be made of Manning's treatment in the US, they do not apply to Assange's treatment in the UK. He is being extradited for rape, for goodness sake. And Sweden is an advanced, sovereign country with an independent judiciary.

Lets not trivialize rape. Assange is a theif, and will be caught up with.

Talk of free speech is asymmetric. The following examples will indicate that the judgment is sometimes based on prejudice and sometimes on law.

• It is generally agree that it is reprehensible and illegal for journalists to hack into private telephone conversations and emails of individuals in order to steal gossip. This is especially the case if the journalist works for a Murdoch newspaper.

• Professor Clive Hamilton and others of the left are adamant that articles critical of the anthropogenic global warming hypothesis should be banned. Senator Brown would have the so called hate media controlled by law.

• It is argued by some that owners and major shareholders in news media should pass a character test. Which I suppose means being in sympathy with left wing and politically correct opinion.

• Quadrant on Line can publish an article on “What is an Aborigine.” While Mr Bolt was found guilty in a court of law for entering this debate. The learned Judge in the Bolt case decided (subjectively) that Bolt’s articles would give offense and be contrary to law.

Given it is wrong for journalists to steal information from private individuals, (especially if they are newspaper celebrities). Yet, according to Pilger it is good and noble to steal private information from Governments. If the stolen information has the potential of endangering national security of endangering lives then to Pilger and his like it is even more praiseworthy.

There's nothing heroic about Manning's or Assange's selfish publicity actions.

Poor little Assange is living in a mansion owned by one of his mates.

He had it off with two other woman - how bout respect for his wife?

He makes himself famous using stolen property.

These are new crimes, for new crims.

Assange is not worth comparing to us honest folk.

He's no Ned Kelly or Robin Hood just a rich and famous perv.

Planta

Some say that Assange is an Israeli asset and it is they who are feeding him the info.Now everyone seems to be attacking him.

One thing is certain is that our freedoms are in dire peril.John Pilger is 100% correct on that observation.

What the neo-liberals conveniently and callously forget is that, if one is fighting the system in a noble cause, one's heart is pure. And in any case, it's all a fabrication by the Swedish neo-conservatives. And after all, in the balance of good and evil, what act would be so terrible that it would counter the good work that Assange has done ?

Arjay asserts that Assange is some sort of Israeli stooge, and this may be so but what if it is more complicated than that ? What if the Swedes are playing their usual double and triple game and have been using Assange to destabilise confidence in US hegemony and take over, feeding him information through Manning and their contacts in Mossad (or more likely Shin Bet) ?

Isn't it obvious that if this were so, they would use this excuse of a couple of women making charges against Assange in order to get him to Sweden for de-briefing, and 're-assignment', which Assange knows, means eventual disappearance ? No wonder he is fighting extradition from Britain. It all makes perfect sense.

And you will notice that, true to form, the Swedes have not left the slightest trace of their culpability. Devilishly clever !

And anyway, what about Abbott !

Loudmouth,I don't know who finances/controls Assange.I'm jsut putting it out there.He is an anomoly and hard to define.He's got shifty eyes and that does not auger well with my gut feelings.

The issue however is not who backs him or how deceptive he is but the right of freedom of expression.

"I may not agree with what you say,but will fight to the death for your right to say it."

When will they deport Pilger for his continuous ranting against his own country no doubt while living the good life on every western luxury his fancy credit cards will buy him.

Someone tell the fool the hippie experiment never worked and it's time he grew up and moved on.

Stuck in a time warp Mr. Pilger.

Cherful,this is not a moronic left/right issue.This is about your freedom.I agree with both Pilger and Ron Paul who are opposite ends of the spectrum politically.They both believe in freedom of expression but our masters who invented terrorism do not.

Can your brain wrap itself around that reality for just an instant?

I think that every government, including the USA, has the right to prosecute people who allegedly have committed actions that are crimes eg the current allegations of placing one's nations' troops and one's allies' troops in harms way. The safety of our side's troops is paramount.

There is in my view a distinction though to be made in attempts to prosecute foreign nationals in other nations. I find many of the penalties and treatment of prisoners through torture to be abhorrent. It is also dispicable if one nation has a legal system with strange ways such as Sweden that might hand over Assange to the USA. This kind of thing, along with the strange charges by the Swedish against him seem to be pathetic.

We need law reform in the UK and Australia that will beef up protections for citizens caught up in the situation of Assange. Assange doesn't deserve this treatment.

Arjay,

I wonder, of Pilger and Paul, who is the useful idiot for whom ?

But as you infer, Pilger's reputation in relation to the defense of free speech in countries like Russia, Cuba, Libya, Saddam's Iraq, China, is well-known. There are probably statues to him in Assad's free-speech-loving Syria.

Cheers,

Joe

Webby how can you call rape as strange charges. The only way we will know if there is a charge is to go there for court, and then to gitmo;.

Hi Webby,

Storm in a teacup ? Assange may well be extradited to Sweden for statutory rape, but I'll stick my neck out and assert that he can't be legally extradited directly from Sweden to the US.

If the charges in Sweden fail, he would have to be allowed to go back to Britain, from which the US could then proceed with extradition. But probably the British would demand an undertaking from the US that after his fair trial there, he couldn't be shot, only jailed for life.

In fact, once the Swedish courts have dealt with him, one way or the other, and he has done his time there, he may well be free to go to any country he chooses.

Most likely one which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

Cheers,

Joe

We can know these things Agent 579 from the fact that the 'rape' charges are termed/termed in Sweden as 'minor rape' and thus the Swedes can be dismissed as having some non-serious elements within their political class. Also, a judiciary seems strange who multi-task functions that ought to be seperate according to newspaper reports.

Secondly, by your own belief Agent 579, that Assange would then be transferred onto Gitmo. Well you said it and so do most people including myself suspect as much as the maor media says so and well they are part of the political and corporations world acting in their own interests.

Rape is never 'minor' and when accusers are reported/alleged to be communicating in a way to get at Assange and when you have judges that are(-according to commentators in the media) also multi-tasking by having a prosecutor's role, well there you have it. Seems like a scene out of Black Adder when he had the Kangaroo Court.

This site seems to be filling with Zionist apologists.

Sure Loudmouth,

I uderstand what you are saying however, life in prison,seems far too harsh. It also isn't the kind of concession that any self-respecting western nation and 'partner'/'friend' of the USA, should ever make.

Friendship should be about dignity and equality not lapdog/puppydog salivation.

Arjay,

WTF does Israel have to do with this ?

Webby,

I don't know, I don't think that Sweden is that close, or that subservient, to the US.

But in international law, Assange might be extradited from the UK to Sweden, but if the charge fails, or he does his time (which is probably preferable to execution, no matter how boring or hard life might be as a prisoner), at the end of that process, he would, at the very least, have to be allowed to go back to the UK.

The US might launch proceedings in the meantime to extradite him, at the end of the trial/imprisonment, to the US, but not directly from Sweden to the US. And maybe, at the end of his trial/imprisonment (whichever finishes first), he may have the legal option of going to a fourth country (i.e. not Sweden, the UK or the US).

Joe

The first amendment in the constitution guarantees the right of any individual to express his thoughts and opinions. Not covered are shots of your neighbour showering, transcripts of his private telephone conversations etc.

Similarly, Publishing information that has been given to him is legal, but soliciting individuals to hack into US data bases is espionage.

Arjay
<Cherful,this is not a moronic left/right issue.This is about your freedom.I agree with both Pilger and Ron Paul who are opposite ends of the spectrum politically.They both believe in freedom of expression but our masters who invented terrorism do not.

Can your brain wrap itself around that reality for just an instant? >

So Assange is protecting my freedoms is he. A man who releases my countries defence secrets to the world is protecting my freedoms is he?

If anything he vindicated the American Government and defence forces because I am still waiting to hear anything I find terribly surprising or horrific about the defence strategys of the American government.

Our master who invented terrorism.
How do you explain the 30year terrorist war waged by the Irish Republican Army in order to remove British rule from Ireland.

Terrorist wars have been with us for a long long, time, I don’t think the Americans just conjured terrorism out of the air.

You are the one who’s brain refuses to see the truth. Read my lips, Osama Bin Laden admitted and gloated about the attack. It was broadcast from Al Jeezra Television, I never heard Al Jazeera Television ever come out and say America gave them the tapes.
Osama Bin Laden is a Saudi prince, his mother and father would have handed him out millions of dollars like candy. That is why he was able to pay for the men and set the whole thing up. There are people who spoke to their loved ones just before they died on those planes and they described the men who where carrying out the hijackings. They weren’t the American FBI.

Dear Possums Save your anger, save your vitriol, don't waste your passion by trying to score points against each other or ridiculing John Pilger. Impossible as it may seem you just might be chewing the wrong end of the stick. Every one of you, as do I, probably question the integrity of the news media on a daily basis. PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! go to your local library or online booksales and beg steal or borrow "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klien and "Killing Hope" by William Blum. Both are books of authority and very well written and researched. Put the effort in, read them and re-read them until you thoroughly understand the reality of what they describe. If the picture they paint does not fill you with revulsion at what has been happening globally in the last 50 years perhaps you can remain happy playing internet games. I hope though that you might even find out where John Pilger, Helen Caldicott, Rachel Carson, all "Aussie" authors are actually coming from.
DEN71