What the New York Times Won’t Tell You About Julian Assange
As you likely already know, Ecuador — after a night in which British authorities threatened to storm the Ecuadorean Embassy in order to kidnap Julian Assange, who has sought sanctuary there for two months — has granted the asylum petition of the WikiLeaks founder, much to the consternation of US officialdom and its mouthpieces.
Here’s the New York Times’ hit piece on the decision. I challenge you, dear reader, to go over this piece and see if any mention is made of the following key and pertinent facts:
– Ecuador invited Sweden to come to the Embassy and interview Assange, or to talk with him via teleconferencing, which is something the Swedish justice system is set up to do routinely. The Swedes refused.
– Ecuador tried to get Sweden to guarantee they would not extradite Assange to the US to face espionage charges. The Swedes refused.
– Assange himself has offered to go to Sweden immediately if they would guarantee that he would not be extradited to the US on espionage charges. The Swedes refused.
Interestingly (hat tip to Teddy Partridge), even as the NYT ignores these key facts, and even as the Associated Press claims without evidence that Americans are “outraged” by Ecuador’s granting Assange asylum, a poll conducted by the Washington Post shows so far a three-to-one approval for Ecuador’s decision. Looks like a lot of folks have found a way (perhaps this way?) to get the news the NYT and WaPo won’t tell them.
http://my.firedoglake.com/phoenix/2012/08/16/what-the-new-york-times-wont-tell-y...