Has The Worm Turned In The Assange Case?

Although things still do not look good for Assange, despite the efforts of numerous supporters, change could be afoot. Major newspapers urging an end to his prosecution signify something, though what, yet, is not clear.

By Eve Ottenberg, CounterPunch

One of the world’s most courageous whistleblowers, Daniel Ellsberg challenged U.S. prosecutors on December 6 to come after him, as they have pursued Julian Assange. The 91-year-old Ellsberg, whom the U.S. security state decades ago possibly hoped to drive to suicide, announced that he too had received leaked materials containing evidence of U.S. war crimes from former military analyst Chelsea Manning. “Let’s take this to the Supreme Court,” Ellsberg said, ready to contest the constitutionality of the ghastly Espionage Act, used against him and now Assange.

Ellsberg’s bombshell followed on some other key news about Assange. Finally, on November 28, mainstream newspapers located, after an arduous search, the elusive courage to do what they should have done years ago: denounce the illegal detention and deliberate, combined U.S. and U.K. assault on publisher Assange. Nota bene – these newspapers all published the national security scoops for which Assange has been persecuted, scoops that his organization, Wikileaks, first aired. Yet as President Trump, then next President Biden worked to crush the obstreperous journalist and thus to toss a free press into its grave, these brave news outlets – paramount among them the New York Times and the Guardian – sat on their hands. At last, in late November, they moved their rearends off their hands and demanded the bogus charges against Assange be dropped. As at least two journalists noted on twitter, these press organizations must have learned that Biden wanted to end the Assange prosecution. If only!

Meanwhile, related to Assange’s predicament, few things would be better for justice than for the CIA to be brought to heel, because of its many crimes. Few things would be better for good in the world than for this organization to pay for its abuses. And nothing could be less likely. So, barring such enormously just outcomes, you’ll have to settle for something smaller. That something arrived in early November.