Last Straw » Wikileaks

What U.S. “justice” signifies around the world

Christiaan — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:04:35 +0000

I've long been a fervent critic of the U.S. but it wasn't always this way. The fervour came about from a realisation that much of what I was led to believe about America as a child was a lie. I don't have the same fervour when it comes to abusive powers like China and Russia. I wasn't constantly barraged with the notion that these countries are the greatest nations ever to have graced the planet with their presence. It's a high expectations, low outcomes kind of a thing.

And so to the latest example of American hypocrisy. While the U.S. preaches to the world about justice and freedom it is renowned for the opposite:

It's quite notable that the mere threat of ending up in American custody is considered (at least by Assange's lawyers) to be a viable basis for contesting extradition on human rights grounds. Indeed, this argument is not unusual.

Indeed, almost every person I've spoken who has or had anything to do with WikiLeaks expresses one fear above all others: the possibility that they will end up in American custody and subjected to its lawless War on Terror "justice system." Americans still like to think of themselves as "leaders of the free world," but in the eyes of many, it's exactly the "free world" to which American policies are so antithetical and threatening.

Senior New Zealand Defence Ministry officials spying for the U.S.

Christiaan — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:56:46 +0000

Stuff.co.nz is reporting this morning on U.S. cables, obtained by WikiLeaks, that reveal senior New Zealand Defence Ministry officials have been spying for the U.S., in this case secretly briefing the United States embassy on Cabinet discussions about the Iraq war. I would hope they are tracked down and kindly relieved of their duties. Count me as an indignant "other-worlder."

Free Bradley Manning

Christiaan — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:45:48 +0000

Free Bradley Manning website.

Dylan Ratigan interviews Daniel Ellsberg—the guy who blew the whistle on the Vietnam War in 1971—about WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning.

And Ann Wright, retired US Colonel and Diplomat, says Bradley Manning should be praised.

Wikileaks reveals video showing U.S. air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians

Christiaan — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:22:36 +0000

Collateral Murder, another U.S. massacre, this time caught on tape. When you watch the video bare in mind the U.S. military claimed the victims died in a battle that took place between U.S. forces and insurgents:

"There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force"

—Lieutenant-Colonel Scott Bleichwehl,

spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad. (New York Times)

The reality is a bunch of coward rednecks flying around in helicopters committing murder from high above.

When the Nuremberg Tribunal described a war of aggression as the supreme war crime, because it "contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole," this is the kind of thing they were talking about. These trigger happy rednecks flying around in helicopters just shouldn't be in Iraq in the first place.

And this redneck nation wonders why people want to fly planes into their buildings.

Paypal threatens democracy

Christiaan — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:03:36 +0000

No Right Turn on the risk to democracy that Paypal presents:

Paypal has blocked donations to the Arrest Blair campaign, supposedly on the basis that it "encourages illegal activity" (conducting a lawful citizens arrest of a rich and powerful figure apparently being illegal in the eyes of PayPal). It's a blatantly political move - and its not the first time they've done it. Last week, they froze the assets of Wikileaks - a site which encourages and publishes anonymous leaks in the public interest, and is credited with "produc[ing] more scoops in its short life than the Washington Post has in the past 30 years".