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Politicians on Assange arrest: The good, the bad, and the unspeakable

assange arrest
© Global Look Press / Alberto Pezzali
UK police arresting WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange in London, April 11, 2019

Comment: Opinions on spectacle of Assange's forceable removal from Ecuador's London embassy after Moreno sold him to the US in exchange for IMF loans, is proving a litmus test for politicians of every stripe.


Bolivian President Evo Morales has condemned the arrest and detention of Julian Assange, who he said is being "persecuted" for revealing US "human rights violations, murders of civilians and diplomatic espionage."

"We strongly condemn the detention of Julian Assange and the violation of freedom of speech," Morales tweeted on Thursday.
Our solidarity is with this brother who is persecuted by the US government for bringing to light its human rights violations, murders of civilians and diplomatic espionage.
The WikiLeaks founder was hauled from the Ecuadorian embassy in London by British police on Thursday morning, after nearly seven years of de-facto house arrest. Assange was found guilty of failing to appear at a 2012 bail hearing, and is also facing extradition to the United States on a charge of conspiracy to commit a cybercrime.

TV

Ukronazi Poroshenko reaches new low - threatens to murder Zelenskii in a political video

Poroshenko

"I'm Petro 'Ukronazi' Poroshenko, and I approve this message"
Here is what took place: Poroshenko took the beginning of a political ad for Zelenskii, but changed the end: Zelesnkii gets run over by a truck. The reaction in the Ukraine and in Russia was unanimous: this is a poorly veiled death threat and a major political mistake by a desperate and completely out of touch Poroshenko.

Really, how low can the Ukronazi Banderastan sink....?

See for yourself: (the text at the end says "each person has his/her own path/road/fate")


Comment: Western puppet Poroshenko has a lot to worry about with the upcoming presidential election, and so is resorting to the desperate thug tactics he knows so well:


Radar

US permits 3 NATO allies use Russian SAMs, but goes nuts over Turkey's S-400 deal

S-400 anti-aircraft systems
© FILE PHOTO AFP / Andrey Smirnov
S-400 anti-aircraft systems
For years, three NATO states have had no trouble using Russian air defense systems, but Turkey's S-400 deal is a special case as it's a risk to the US grip on Ankara and inflicts losses on its military industry, analysts told RT.

Not a single month passes without the United States unloading on Turkey, which seems to stay on course buying the top-notch S-400 anti-aircraft systems. Washington has already put on hold F-35 deliveries to the Turkish Air Force and warned that carrying on with the deal could jeopardize Ankara's ties with the US and NATO.


Following suit, some mainstream media rushed to explain how Turkey's industry will suffer if the S-400s reach Turkish soil. Others warned that having the F-35 and the S-400 within one military would compromise critical advantages of the fifth-generation fighter jet.

Military analysts who talked to RT said much of the fuss is about Ankara not bowing to Washington and NATO and pursuing its own interests.

Comment: See also:


Rocket

US Army terminal missile defense system (THAAD) to be deployed in Eastern Europe, controlled by NATO

THAAD system
© Leah Garton/U.S. Army
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor is launched from the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, during a test on July 30, 2017.
So far only the Pacific region and, more recently, the Middle East have seen operational deployments of the U.S. Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, but now it's headed to Romania this summer, according to an April 11 U.S. European Command statement.

Questions have swirled for years on when, where and if THAAD would deploy to Europe, particularly as the situation on the eastern flank has heated up since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

The THAAD system, according to the USEUCOM statement, will deploy this summer "in support of NATO Ballistic Missile Defense" - in other words, it's filling in for the operational Aegis Ashore missile defense system while it undergoes a "limited period of scheduled maintenance and updates."

The Aegis Ashore in Deveselu, Romania, has been operational since 2016. It is part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach, or EPAA, designed to defend U.S. troops and its allies in Europe against possible ballistic missile attacks.


Comment: From who? Russia?? Why the build-up unless the US foresees a conflict that it itself will start?


Black Cat

Kangaroo court: UK judge brands Julian Assange 'narcissist' in 15 min 'trial'

assange protesters london court trial
© Reuters / Hannah McKay
The UK judge who found Julian Assange guilty of breaking his bail conditions in 2012 has called the whistleblower a "narcissist" and his behavior "shameful."

Inside the courtroom, District Judge Michael Snow branded the WikiLeaks founder a "narcissist who cannot get beyond his own selfish interest."

Just hours after his arrest by British police on Thursday morning, Assange was found guilty of failing to surrender to bail in 2012. Assange pleaded not guilty to the charge, with his lawyers arguing that he would never have received a fair trial if he had been extradited to Sweden on sexual assault charges and that he was therefore forced to seek asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy.

Comment: Of all the parties forming the UK government, only Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party has shown some spine in opposing Assange's potential kidnapping extradition. He continues to be a man of principle:
Leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has publicly opposed UK's possible extradition of WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange to the US, saying he exposed evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hours following Assange's arrest in London on Thursday, Corbyn tweeted a video statement of Labour MP Diane Abbott, who argued in Parliament that WikiLeaks had "lifted the veil on US military operations in a variety of theaters, none of which have produced a favourable outcome for the people of those countries."

"Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect US national security, he is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by US administrations and their military forces," said Abbott.




Wolf

Proving its subservience to Israel, Congress circulates bills to curtail BDS while movement's founder is denied entry to the US

Omar Barghouti BDS
© Rob Stothard
Omar Barghouti, founder of the BDS movement.
On Wednesday the man regarded as the founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel (BDS), Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, headed to the airport outside of Tel Aviv intending to embark on a U.S. speaking tour and attend the wedding of a relative. Despite possessing a valid visa through 2021, he was prevented from boarding.

According to a statement released by the Arab American Institute (AAI), the group sponsoring his talks, Barghouti was told his travel block was due to an "immigration matter." Airline staff told him they had orders from the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv and and U.S. immigration services not to let him on the plane.

The denial sparks questions whether legislation circling on Capital Hill to curtail boycotts against Israel has come with a shadow policy to prevent its most vocal advocates from entering the country.

Comment:


Bad Guys

Spineless MSM profited from Assange's work yet refuses to sound alarm over his arrest

Julian Assange arrest
© Reuters / Henry Nicholls
Members of the media are reflected in a window of a police van as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen inside, after he was arrested in London.
The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is a severe blow to press freedom, but the mainstream media has no objections, despite never shying away from writing articles based on his publications, analysts told RT.

"What we're seeing right now is criminalization of journalism; the criminalization of publishing," analyst Patrick Henningsen said hours after the UK police forcibly removed Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

This "very unfortunate" development affects each and every journalist, but the "supine mainstream media isn't protesting what's going on," he added. The leading Western outlets are "in lockstep with the government of the US, the UK, Spain and others" and just don't see Assange as their colleague.

Handcuffs

Tip of the iceberg: Top Obama WH lawyer charged with lying about collusion with Ukrainian government

Greg Craig attorney obama
© Alex Wong/Getty Images
Greg Craig and Barack Obama
A federal grand jury on Thursday charged Greg Craig with conspiring to hide his paid collusion with a foreign government and lying about that work to federal officials. Craig, a high-powered Beltway lawyer, served as President Barack Obama's top White House lawyer during the former president's first year in office.

According to the formal indictment of Craig, which the Department of Justice released Thursday afternoon, the Democrat superlawyer "did unlawfully, knowingly, and willfully falsify, conceal, and cover up" his work on behalf of the Ukrainian government.

"The purpose of the scheme was for CRAIG to avoid registration as an agent of Ukraine," the indictment alleges. "Registration would require disclosure of the fact that" an unnamed Ukrainian had "paid CRAIG and the Law Firm more than $4 million[.]"

Comment: For those willing to look behind the soundbites, plenty of evidence of Ukrainian collusion with Democrats, and especially Killary and Slick Willy, can be found:


Bad Guys

Long-time Sudanese leader arrested, army has seized power - defense minister

sudan protesters president arrested april 2019
© Reuters
Sudanese antigovernment protesters cheer as they drive towards a military vehicle after Sudan's defense minister said that President Omar al-Bashir had been detained "in a safe place" and that a military council would run the country.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been ousted and arrested following nearly four months of protests against his 30-year rule, the defense minister says.

Speaking on state television on April 11, Awad Ibn Ouf said that Bashir had been detained "in a safe place" and that a military council will oversee a two-year transitional period followed by elections.

The announcement came as tens of thousands of people marched through the capital, Khartoum, some shouting that the "regime has fallen."

Comment: RT adds:
As thousands of protesters gathered for a sit-in outside the army headquarters in Khartoum, television and radio stations broadcast footage of military marches and patriotic music. People who took part in a protest vigil outside the army headquarters were chanting "[The government] has fallen. We won" as they awaited further news, according to Reuters.

The news agency also reports that troops raided the headquarters of the Islamic movement led by al-Bashir.

It is believed that a military-run transition body was established, but this is yet also to be confirmed. In the meantime, a Sudanese group that coordinated the protest demanded that power be handed over to a civilian - not military - interim entity.


The latest twist of the crisis in Sudan comes after clashes between anti-government activists and uniformed security forces over the past days.

In all, 49 people are said to have died in protest-related violence since demonstrations erupted over government plans to sharply increase the price of bread in December 2018.
sudan protests al-Bashire
© Reuters/Stringer
Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against President Omar al-Bashir
President al-Bashir came to power in a 1989 coup carried out by the military on the heels of a 21-year civil war. In the mid-2000s, he faced allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity following a conflict in western region of Darfur.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant and a travel ban on al-Bashir. He also won consecutive polls in 2010 and 2015, but promised at the beginning of 2019 that he would not seek re-election once his term ended in 2020.
Interesting that the coup comes when the atmosphere in Sudan has been warming to Russia:


Bad Guys

Facebook deletes accounts linked to India's Congress party, Pakistan military

facebook india
© REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
Facebook logo is reflected in glasses in this picture illustration taken April 1, 2019.
Facebook has deleted 712 accounts and 390 pages in India and Pakistan for "inauthentic behaviour", it said on Monday, many linked to India's opposition Congress party days before a national election, and others related to Pakistan's military.

Facebook has come under increasing pressure around the world to ensure its social media platform is not abused for political purposes or to spread misinformation.

The action against accounts with alleged links to Congress, the party led by the Gandhi family that has dominated Indian politics for much of its post-independence era, marks a bold move by Facebook.

The platform has more than 300 million users in India, where it has been a key political campaigning tool in the election - the largest democratic exercise in the world - starting on April 11.

Comment: Clearly, Facebook is on a worldwide censorship mission, and it's not exactly Mark Zuckerberg who is at the helm: