Glenn Greenwald: Newspaper columnists call for military action against Wikileaks/Julian Assange

[Better Believe It]

The Wretched Mind of the American Authoritarian
by Glenn Greenwald
October 29, 2010

Decadent governments often spawn a decadent citizenry. A 22-year-old Nebraska resident was arrested yesterday for waterboarding his girlfriend as she was tied to a couch, because he wanted to know if she was cheating on him with another man; I wonder where he learned that? There are less dramatic though no less nauseating examples of this dynamic. In The Chicago Tribune today, there is an Op-Ed from Jonah Goldberg -- the supreme, living embodiment of a cowardly war cheerleader -- headlined: "Why is Assange still alive?" It begins this way:

I'd like to ask a simple question: Why isn't Julian Assange dead? . . . WikiLeaks is easily among the most significant and well-publicized breaches of American national security since the Rosenbergs gave the Soviets the bomb. . . .

So again, I ask: Why wasn't Assange garroted in his hotel room years ago?

It's a serious question.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-oped-1029-goldberg-20101029,0,5734943.story

He ultimately concludes that "it wouldn't do any good to kill him, given the nature of the Web" -- whatever that means -- and reluctantly acknowledges: "That's fine. And it's the law. I don't expect the U.S. government to kill Assange, but I do expect them to try to stop him." What he wants the Government to do to "stop" Assange is left unsaid -- tough-guy neocons love to beat their chest and demand action without having the courage to specify what they mean -- but his question ("Why isn't Julian Assange dead?") was published in multiple newspapers around the country today.

Christian Whiton, a former Bush State Department official, wasn't as restrained in his Fox News column last week, writing:

Rather, this is an act of political warfare against the United States. . . . .Here are some of the things the U.S. could do: . . .Explore opportunities for the president to designate WikiLeaks and its officers as enemy combatants, paving the way for non-judicial actions against them.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/25/christian-whiton-wiki-leaks-ignore-threat-obama-democrats-congress-iraq-war/

Whiton was just echoing his fellow war cheerleader, torture advocate Marc Thiessen, who wrote this in The Washington Post, under the headline "WikiLeaks Must be Stopped"

The government has a wide range of options for dealing with him. It can employ not only law enforcement but also intelligence and military assets to bring Assange to justice and put his criminal syndicate out of business.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/02/AR2010080202627.html

"Military assets": apparently, according to this brave and battle-tested warrior -- Marc Thiessen -- the U.S. can and should just send a drone over London or Stockholm and eradicate Assange, or just send some ground troops into Western Europe to abduct him.

Read the full article at:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/10/29/goldberg/index.html

[maryf]

1. Heroes...

you can tell them by their enemies...K&R

[glitch]

2. Glenn Greenwald nails their silly craven asses. K & R nt

[kgnu_fan]

3. Savage killer instinct rules in this country now --- Evolve!

[bemildred]

4. Simple solutions appeal to simple minds.

But yeah, decadence is certainly part of the equation at this point.

[Better Believe It]

5. Another sign of the nations decay, decline and drift to the right.

The century of American capitalist world domination is over.

[bemildred]

6. I doubt the "Capitalists" are done with us yet.

Though "neo-feudalists" is a better description. However, the USA is (unfortunately) just a shell of what is once was. And that is obvious to those of us old enough to have watched the process unfold.

[Better Believe It]

8. Oh .... they are just getting warmed up to take away many of the social gains we've made.

[Odin2005]

7. Jesus, these "people" are SHAMEFUL!

[depakid]

9. A sick nation full of sick people

As it declines further into third world status, this sort of things will only get worse.

[Starry Messenger]

10. recommend.