As the world watches, US President Joe Biden continues to perseecute Joe Biden. DW notes:
More than 70 members of the German parliament from four political parties have called on US President Joe Biden and the British government to stop the impending deportation of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from the UK to the US to face espionage charges.
"Journalists must not be persecuted or punished for their work anywhere in the world," the Bundestag deputies wrote in an open letter. "In the interest of press freedom as well as for humanitarian reasons in view of his poor state of health, Julian Assange must be released without delay."
Assange has been imprisoned in the UK since April 2019, when the government of Ecuador, which had hosted him in its London embassy for seven years, withdrew his political asylum.
THE GOOD MEN PROJECT observes, "The curious thing about all this is that the United States has never denied the facts revealed in the 700,000 White House and Pentagon documents, mostly about the barbarities committed by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaked by Wikileaks: torture, assassinations, massacres, espionage, manipulation. In other words, they want to punish the whistleblower, not the perpetrators, with 175 years in prison (which hardly anyone will be able to serve). The truth has been murdered. So has journalism." Is it possible for Joe Biden to be the most hated man in the world? Yes, and as he continues to persecute Julian Assange, he is on track to become just that. The world is watching and the word they're saying in various languages is: Hypocrite. THE DAILY SABAH explains:
The United States and the United Kingdom are constantly criticizing the press and freedom of expression in other countries. They publish reports and give official support to civic organizations that prepare press freedom assessments in their countries. They seem very assertive about the whole thing and they are radical in their approach. However, the freedoms of press and expression in their own countries are not unlimited as they recommend to other countries. The most dramatic indicator of this is the yearslong "hunt" for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
U.S. intelligence pursued Australian-born Assange on 18 charges, including espionage, for releasing thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011. Assange had taken refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he lived for six years under inhumane conditions. He has been in prison in the U.K. since 2019. Two weeks ago, the British government accepted his extradition to the U.S.
So what is Assange’s unforgivable great crime? WikiLeaks documents released by Assange contained information about how U.S. soldiers killed hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan. Other documents showed that 66,000 civilians were killed during the invasion of Iraq and that Iraqi forces tortured the prisoners.
Can the information in the disclosed documents be denied? No. So, has Assange actually been punished for so many years for being a journalist and fulfilling his responsibilities towards his profession, humanity and reality? Is that why the British judge is upholding Assange's extradition, leaving the final decision up to the government? Is the judge concerned about the reports in the U.S. press that the CIA is plotting to assassinate Assange? Doesn't he want to bear the responsibility of leaving Assange to an agenda that knows no limit?
Whatever the decision, the courage demonstrated by Assange, whose life was poisoned because he did his job properly, and the hypocrisy of those who gave speeches about "freedom of the press" and remained silent about his drama, have already gone down in history.
Joe Biden the tinhorn dictator. The thug who tries to destroy journalism unless it flatters him. The next time he stands up on the world stage and tries to lecture, the whole world will know what a liar and hypocrite he is. And they'll know about the US client-states that aren't really independent countries. Colonies like Australia, for example. Oscar Grenfell (WSWS) notes:
When the Labor Party scraped into office following the May 21 federal election, some supporters of Julian Assange voiced hopes that the new government would defend the WikiLeaks publisher because he is an Australian journalist and citizen undergoing persecution abroad.
The crudest and most thoughtless expression of these hopes came in the form of an update to a petition demanding that the Australian government act to free Assange. Over the course of almost three years, the petition has been signed by more than 730,000 people, and has served as an important focal point for the latent, mass support that exists for Assange.
But on July 4, the petition’s founder declared that it was no longer necessary to issue any demands on the Australian government. The sole evidence provided was that Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had purportedly signed the petition, and that some members of the government have hinted that it may engage in “quiet diplomacy” on behalf of Assange. “Now that we confirm that the Prime Minister of Australia is one of us and together with all of our collective 731,000 Signatories to this petition we will together move forward with direct representations to the responsible Public Officers in both the USA and Britain,” the update declared.
It was necessary to “understand that the Australian Government does
have a right to negotiate the matter of freedom of Julian Assange in the
best way they see to secure his freedom… We do not intend to work
against any action being taken in different ways by any individual
Signatory”—i.e., Albanese.
“[W]e will move forward in a peaceful,
harmonious and inclusive manner,” the update declared, that is with
regards to the Labor government.
To be blunt, such statements are exercises in wilful delusion. Since forming government, Labor has not issued anything that even could be described as weasel-words in support of Assange. Its attitude towards the WikiLeaks publisher is barely concealed hostility.
John Pilger, the award-winning Australian filmmaker and journalist who has been a close confidante of Assange since 2010, said defeat for the 51-year-old in his battle in British courts against extradition could have far-reaching consequences for journalism.
“I don’t think there is any doubt in my mind... that if Julian goes to the United States, and is effectively dropped in a penal hell hole, that will be the end of him literally, he will die,” Pilger said in an interview on Talking Post with chief news editor Yonden Lhatoo.
Pilger said Assange’s treatment over the years - he has been in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison since 2019 - was “torture”, adding that for the Australian national “anything” would be better than being sent to the US.
Prior to his incarceration, Assange obtained asylum from Ecuador in 2012 and spent seven years in Quito’s embassy in London as part of efforts to avoid extradition to Sweden where he was facing charges of sexual assault. He denies all wrongdoing.
Washington is seeking his extradition over charges of espionage and computer misuse linked to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified US documents since 2010.
"Computer misuse." Oh, there's a charge that's going to stick to Joe's ass for history. "Computer misuse" -- tortured and persecuted for "computer misuse." Let that be one of the many anchors hung around Joe's neck by history.
Here's a video interview with John Pilger.
The sad and pathetic joke that is Joe Biden continues his senior-moments presidency. And he continues his war of choice on Russia. As lives are destroyed, as inflation increases, add a shortage of humus to Joes long list of damages. Poor, pathetic Joe. All of that and coming up short on the world stage yet again. Dave DeCamp (ANTIWAR.COM) explains:
The G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Friday failed to produce a joint statement as the group of the world’s leading economies and largest developing nations are divided on how to respond to the war in Ukraine.
Many G20 members have not followed the US-led sanctions campaign against Russia, including Indonesia, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa. The meeting opened with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi calling for the G20 nations to work together to end the war.
Marsudi said that the war in Ukraine was the focus of most meetings held on Friday, but she couldn’t point to any agreements reached by all participants on the issue, according to The Associated Press. She noted that only “some countries expressed condemnation of the act of invasion.”
And while Cher warbles "Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe," YOTUBE finds time for some truths such as this interview with Gilbert Doctorow.
Yes, Joe Biden has been sending billions of US tax dollars to a nazi regime n Ukraine. The next Hitler? Apparently, the next Hitler is actually someone the US government funds.
At ANTIWAR.COM, Dave De Camp also notes:
The Biden administration announced Friday a new $400 million weapons package for Ukraine that includes more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 150mm artillery ammunition, and tactical vehicles.
The new aid marks the 15th weapons package the US has pledged for Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24, demonstrating the Biden administration’s commitment to flooding the country with arms.
Apparently, Joes counting on the pro-Nazi vote in the US to deliver the mid-terms to his party.
On Friday, however, a Pentagon spokesperson indicated that the United States would not discourage Ukraine from using US weapons to attack territory claimed by Russia.
Asked by a reporter whether there were any “preclusions” on what could be targeted by US-supplied weapons, and whether the Kerch bridge in the Black Sea would be “precluded as a potential target,” the defense department official stated, “there aren't any preclusions that I'm aware of about the Ukrainians fighting on their sovereign territory against Russia.”
The Kerch bridge was built by Russia in 2015-2018 and forms the main connection between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in the wake of the US- and EU-backed coup in Kiev in 2014. The statement by the US defense official suggesting that the bridge constitutes Ukraine’s “sovereign territory” is yet another expression of the US endorsement of Ukraine’s aim, openly adopted as military strategy in 2021, to retake Crimea by military means.
The statements by the US official can only be interpreted as a green light for Kiev to attack the Kerch bridge and constitute a significant provocation. They came just one day after Philip Breedlove, the former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe, declared, “the Kerch bridge is a legitimate target.”
Speaking to the British Independent, Breedlove said that “Several people I have spoken to say ‘dropping’ [destroying] Kerch bridge would be a huge blow to Russia. Kerch bridge is a legitimate target.”
Breedlove continued, “But if they wanted to drop the bridge, that would require a more dedicated bombing operation.”
He added, “I hear a lot of people asking whether it is right for Ukraine to take such aggressive action and whether the West would support it, but I cannot understand that argument.”
Breedlove indicated that such an attack on Russian territory could involve the use of US harpoon missiles, which are capable of attacking land targets despite being primarily known as a naval weapon.
Friday’s briefing by the Pentagon, which went largely unreported in the press, was also shockingly blunt about the extent to which the United States systematically worked to prepare its Ukrainian proxy for war with Russia over the course of years.
Don't worry, America, Cher and Jane Fonda have spoken -- one dropped out of high school, the other from college -- and they are just fine with money going to nazis in Ukraine and with destruction and nuclear war and so much more. That's why they use their names to whore for war. War Whores. What else are they going to do at their age? Jane's got another embarrassing film where she's going to try to do comedy like she did in BOOK CLUB where she was the weakest actress of the lot. Did anyone buy it? Did anyone believe her non-story and her non-character? I mean Candice and Diane invested. Even Mary. But there was Jane barking out lines, pretending to be a character. If it wasn't her all time worst performance, it's only because she'd already made GEORGIA RULES. Gone are the day of brilliance of even pulling off failures (like Losey's A DOLL'S HOUSE). Now she's doing another one of those pre-fab 'comedies' -- all the elements well used and forced together with no wasting time or thought as to artistic intention. So she teams with Tom Brady and Rita Moreno and we're supposed to yet again pretend like it's art and like it's entertainment and like it's somehow not beneath an Academy Award winning Best Actress -- a two time Academy Award winning best actress. As Jane now pimps war, it seems rather obvious that the only time her acting mattered was when she was speaking out against war. She's gone back to her plastic period yet again. (Check out the lips.) That's how she'll apparently go out because, outside of Gloria Stuart, most don't live to their 90s. War Whore -- apparently, it will be the 84-year-old actress' final credit.
War Whores. Women who, like Jane Fonda at the start of 2007, publicly swear they will be calling out the Iraq War until all US troops leave and then, not surprising considering their well known anti-Arab position, walk away from the topic completely. On Iraq, Alex MacDonald (MIDDLE EAST EYE) reports:
Rights groups have reacted with alarm to proposals for a law banning homosexuality in Iraq, warning that it would allow anti-LGBTQ+ vigilantes to "get away with murder".
A member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee told the official Iraqi News Agency on Friday that it had begun formulating proposals to criminalise homosexuality, which was made legal in Iraq after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
"It was agreed within the parliament to collect signatures after
returning to session to legislate a law prohibiting homosexuality in
Iraq," said Aref al-Hamami, an MP with the State of Law coalition led by
former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.
"[The] legislation of such a law will be reinforced by legal provisions
that prevent homosexuality and the perversions associated with it."
Although homosexuality has been officially legal in Iraq for almost two decades, politicians and religious leaders in the country have frequently railed against LGBTQ+ people, and laws punishing "immodest acts" have been used to target them.
Meanwhile, two weeks after ROE was overturned by the Supreme Court, do-nothing Joe finally takes some (non)action. Chris Walker (TRUTHOUT) reports:
President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order on Friday to expand protection for those seeking abortion services or contraceptives — but many reproductive rights advocates have said that his planned order doesn’t go far enough.
The order from Biden comes as Democrats and progressives have been demanding a more actionable response from the administration, just two weeks after the Supreme Court upended abortion rights by overturning protections that were recognized in the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade. Some Democrats have noted that the White House should have been better prepared to take action right away, given that a draft document of the ruling was leaked several weeks before the official one was issued.
The White House only announced the speech and the executive order late Thursday, amidst growing and increasingly public criticisms from sections of the Democratic Party and abortion rights groups linked to it of the administration’s failure to even make a pretense of a serious fight against the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade two weeks ago.
The very fact that the event was held in the middle of a work day and not during prime time pointed to the cynical calculations behind it. There was no intention of mobilizing mass popular anger over the ruling by far-right ideologues on the Court and the barbaric abortion bans being imposed by Republican governors and legislatures in states across the country.
It was instead aimed at providing political cover for the administration’s capitulation, while using the destruction of a constitutional right established a half-century ago to once again divert social opposition into the dead end of backing Democratic candidates, this time in the upcoming November midterm elections.
“The only way to fulfill and restore that right for women is by voting, by exercising their power at the ballot box,” Biden said. “We need two additional pro-choice senators and the House to codify Roe as federal law. Your vote can make that a reality… For God’s sake, there is an election in November. Vote, vote, vote, vote.”
Having no doubt consulted his pollsters and election advisers, based on the party’s orientation to better-off, suburban women and its branding of the “white working class” as racist, Biden declared, “The women of America can determine the outcome of this issue... It is my hope and strong belief that women will turn out in record numbers to reclaim the rights that have been taken from them by the Court.”
No explanation was offered for the fact that Biden and the Democrats did nothing to mobilize opposition to the overthrow of Roe for nearly two months after Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion was leaked to the press, or that Democratic-led Congresses and Democratic presidents never attempted to codify the landmark decision in legislation during the 50 years after it was handed down, despite unceasing efforts by the Republican right to weaken and overturn it.
The Democrats presently control both houses of Congress and the White House and have done nothing to protect the basic right of women to decide whether or not to have a child, under conditions of extreme social crisis and hardship in which an unwanted pregnancy can spell destitution for parent and child alike.
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