Julian Assange and other whistleblowers including Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, have revealed much of what we now know about how and why America, Israel, Australia and their allies have waged bloody wars against the peoples of the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. As a result of these wars several millions have died since 1990. If the US-NATO aligned powers can get their way, they intend much of the same for the people of Latin America, Russia and East Asia. On these and related issues, the Wheeler Centre conducted a superb interview with Assange tonight 30 September 2015 and there seems to be a podcast there at http://www.wheelercentre.com/events/julian-assange. Check it out. (No longer available - James, 4 Dec 2021)
To help them plan to overcome domestic opposition to their plans for war, the United States' NSA and other spy agencies have been listening to all of our 'phone conversations and reading all our e-mails, at least since 2007, purportedly to fight 'terrorism'. Curiously, the 'Islamist' terrorists the intelligence agencies claim to be protecting us from seem strikingly similar to the terrorists, armed and paid for by the United States and its allies, who have, according to our newsmedia, been fighting against the "hated Syrian dictator", President Bashar al-Assad, since March 2011. See Julian Assange’s Wikileaks Files, Chapter 10, “Syria”. In the face of these lies about the Syrian President, Syrians have, in fact, rallied behind their government since March 2011. According to Haaretz which can hardly be accused of bias towards the Syrian government, 88.7% of the 73.42% of eligible Syrian voters who voted in the Presidential elections of 4 June 2014, voted for President Bashar al-Assad. [1] But for having stood by their government at the ballot box and with the Syrian Army in their neighbourhoods against the terrorists, the Syrian people have paid a terrible price. By one estimate as many as 250,000 have been killed and several millions have been displaced internally and externally. Now, most conveniently for advocates of dragnet surveillance, the Western world also faces terrorism, if on a vastly smaller scale, from some of the same terrorists who have been fighting the people for Syria. Those who have waged illegal wars against the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen, and in previous generation against the people of Vietnam cannot be trusted with all our personal data. Dragnet Surveillance must be stopped. Ask your local member of Parliament - or at election time - all candidates seeking your vote - what he/she has done and intends to do to stop the surveillance by the NSA of your emails and your 'phone conversations. Also, ask your local member of the Federal Parliament or of the Victorian Parliament, how he/she intends to stand up for Julian Assange that courageous whistleblower and native of Victoria, Australia.
Appendix : Internet resources
/JulianAssange /Syria https://candobetter.net
Footnote[s]
[1] See /SyriansVotedForPresidentBasharAlAssad
Comments
Sheila Newman
Sat, 2015-10-31 10:18
Permalink
EU Parliament Votes To Drop Charges Against Snowden!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/edward-snowden-eu-charges_56322f85e4b0631799112728?section=australia&adsSiteOverride=au
Parliament Votes To Drop Charges Against Snowden
encouraged members to block his extradition "in
recognition of his status as a whistleblower and human
rights defender."
Grenoble
Editor, The Huffington Post
10/29/2015 11:58 AM EDT | Edited: 1 hour ago
to 6-minute video in original]
big win for Edward Snowden came with the narrowest of margins.
a vote of 285 to 281, Members of European Parliament (MEP)
passed a resolution Thursday calling for EU member
states to drop criminal charges against the former NSA
contractor and protect him from extradition.
June of this year, the White House rejected the idea of
dropping charges filed against Snowden under the Espionage
Act. The former CIA contractor fled the U.S. in 2013 and
resides in Moscow.
fact is that Mr Snowden committed very serious crimes, and the
U.S. government and the Department of Justice believe that he
should face them,” Obama administration spokesman Josh
Earnest told
the Guardian at the time. “That’s why we believe that Mr
Snowden should return to the United States, where he will face
due process and have the opportunity to make that case in a
court of law.”
faces the possibility of extradition to the U.S. should he
enter any of the EU’s 28 member countries. At the time of his
departure, Snowden applied for -- and was denied -- asylum in
Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the
Netherlands, Poland and Spain. The FBI pursued him
relentlessly, even notifying Scandinavian countries in advance
of their intent to extradite him should he leave Moscow via a
connecting flight through any of their countries.
new EU proposition specifically asks countries to "drop any
criminal charges against Edward Snowden, grant him protection
and consequently prevent extradition or rendition by third
parties, in recognition of his status as whistle-blower and
international human rights defender."
called the vote a "game-changer" on Twitter, adding, "This
is not a blow against the US Government, but an open hand
extended by friends. It is a chance to move forward."***
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