Power & Market

The Reds Are Right About Assange

The Chinese communists are hoisting the U.S. government on its own petard, at least with respect to Julian Assange, the Australian citizen who, with WikiLeaks, disclosed war crimes committed by the U.S. national-security establishment.

For decades stretching back to the Cold War, U.S. officials have reveled in leveling condemnations and criticisms of Red China for its human-rights abuses and denial of civil liberties.

What has always amazed me is that the Chinese haven’t responded by pointing out the rank hypocrisy of the U.S. government, given the horrific human-rights abuses and denial of civil liberties long exercised by the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA, especially with their assassination program, torture program, kidnapping program, indefinite detention, denial of speedy trial, denial of trial by jury, and secret mass surveillance.

That’s all changed with the case of Julian Assange. The Reds are no longer silent. They are going on the attack with condemnations and criticisms of the U.S. government with respect to Assange. 

Take, for example, this video presentation by Yonden Lhatoo, the chief news editor of the South China Morning Post. It is entitled “The Insufferable Hypocrisy of Western Governments Hell-Bent on Destroying Julian Assange.” It’s worth watching. Lhatoo skewers U.S. and British officials for their persecution, prosecution, and mistreatment of Assange for telling the truth about war crimes committed by the U.S. national-security state.

Now, mind you, as a Hong Kong media outlet, the South China Morning Post is not technically owned by Red China’s communist regime. But with the way things are going in Hong Kong, it is a virtual certainty that the Morning Post is being closely monitored, if not indirectly controlled, by the communist regime. In fact, according to Wikipedia, “Since the change of ownership in 2016, critics including The New York TimesDer Spiegel and The Atlantic have alleged that the paper is on a mission to promote China‘s soft power abroad. According to critics, it is moving away from independent journalism and pioneering a new form of ‘propaganda.’”

Lhatoo points out that if Assange had been a Chinese citizen who had disclosed truthful evidence of war crimes committed by China, U.S. and British officials would be hailing him as a courageous hero, one who was deserving of the Nobel Prize. It is an excellent point, one that is indisputable. 

Sadly, what the Reds are saying about U.S. hypocrisy is absolutely correct. What amazes me is that they haven’t yet, as far as I know, pointed to the Pentagon/CIA torture and prison center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which could easily have been modeled on similar structures in communist countries. 

It’s pretty sad when the communists are condemning and criticizing the U.S. government for hypocrisy when it comes to human-rights abuses and civil liberties. It’s even sadder when they are right, especially in the case of Julian Assange. 

Reprinted from Jacob Hornberger's Blog.

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