A British court is currently deliberating in what is probably the last appeal by Julian Assange in the U.S. government’s efforts to extradite him to stand trial in the United States for illegally disclosing war crimes committed by the U.S. national-security state. If Assange loses this appeal, it is a virtual certainty that he will be quickly loaded onto a plane and shipped to the United States, where U.S. prosecutors will seek a conviction and a very long jail sentence in a high-security federal penitentiary.
While it is theoretically possible for Assange to win an acquittal, the reality is that conviction will be a fairly easy thing for prosecutors to win. That’s because the prosecution will take place in one of the pro-government federal courts that are located near the Pentagon and the CIA.
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Even if Assange were to be acquitted, however, the fact is that the government has actually already won. After all, look at Assange’s life for the last 14 years. They’ve destroyed it. He has been harassed, abused, incarcerated under brutal conditions, and forced to hole up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for seven long years.
In other words, for 14 years, Assange has been unable to enjoy the life of a free person. For the last three years, he’s been incarcerated under brutal conditions by British officials, who are renowned for patriotically following orders of the U.S. national-security establishment. The destruction of a large part of Assange’s life and liberty is itself a big win for U.S. officials.
Not surprisingly, Assange’s health has deteriorated significantly under these 14 years of harsh conditions. No one would be surprised if he were to suddenly die in prison, which is what U.S. officials would love to see, which they would undoubtedly celebrate with much glee.
Naturally, during the past 14 years, Assange has been impeded in his efforts to disclose more war crimes by the U.S. national-security state, which obviously is another victory for U.S. national-security state officials, regardless of the ultimate outcome of the case.
Most important, the 14-year mistreatment of Assange has sent a message to every other person who has knowledge of war crimes or other illegal acts committed by the U.S. national-security establishment. That message is this: “If you dare to disclose our war crimes or other illegal acts, this is what will happen to you.” What person would want to go through what they have done to Assange or, for that matter, what they have done to Edward Snowden, another person who had the courage to take on these people through his disclosure of their illegal surveillance schemes? Not very many, and understandably so.
Thus, regardless of how Assange fares in what appears to be his final appeal in Britain or how he fares in a kangaroo federal court in Virginia, the fact is that the U.S. national-security state has already won by destroying a major part of his life and cowing all others into remaining silent about the war crimes and illegal actions of the U.S. national-security state.