Gotta Admit... I'm Pretty Baffled By The Split And Depth Of Feeling Re:The Assange/WikiLeaks Story

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. I think you completely misunderstand and mischaracterise the issue

and I think it's exceptionally simple-minded to say "sides with government".

First: it's possible to support the work Wikileaks has done while finding Assange personally unpleasant and distasteful, and while thinking that Assange has allowed his ego and personal troubles to get in the way of whatever "mission" Wikileaks happens to have.

Second: Assange is accused of serious sexual offences, at least one of which is rape. I personally find the accuser's stories to be credible and believable. I think that Assange should answer the charges. I think that his trying to make this extradition battle about something other than his not wanting to face a rape trial in Sweden is yet another sign of his ego.

Third: I would strenuously oppose any effort by the US government to extradite Assange (an Australian citizen) to the US to face trial on espionage charges related to disclosure of classified materials by Wikileaks (whose servers were hosted in Sweden). I find the conflation of the criminal charges against Assange with some hypothetical political persecution to be absurd.