Assange Handed Sydney Peace Medal

hihihihi writes "WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation's Gold Medal for 'exceptional courage in the pursuit of human rights.' It is only the fourth time in the organization's 14-year history that the prize for extraordinary achievement in promoting peace with justice has been given out. Previous winners are Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Japanese Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda. Foundation director Professor Stuart Rees accused the Australian government of demonizing Mr Assange and aiding US efforts to behave like a totalitarian state."

Comments

DUPE

[Anonymous Coward]

DUPE

Re:DUPE

[Anonymous Coward]

I handed him a big steamy turd but you don't hear anything in the news about that!

Re:DUPE

[Anonymous Coward]

Exceptional douchebaggery in the pursuit of pussy.

About as meaningful...

[Anonymous Coward]

About as meaningful as Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. That is to say... It isn't.

Re:About as meaningful...

[johnsnails]

really modded troll? This is insightful and was the first thing that came to my mind.

Re:About as meaningful...

[dreamchaser]

Yeah, it should be up to 5, Insightful. Obama had not done one thing to earn the Prize when he got it. I'll get modded down for this, but he was the Affirmative Action Nobel winner.

Turn the page to today and he's still done nothing worthy of a Nobel.

Re:About as meaningful...

[GameboyRMH]

Why would you compare the two? Obama did nothing to deserve a Nobel peace prize (and most disappointingly, still hasn't since) unless you count bringing grammar back to the White House. Assange has actually done things to further world peace, whether you agree with the means or not. The two are not comparable.

Re:About as meaningful...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was under the impression that some of the information he released kicked off a little revolution in Southern Africa which was then put down, hard.

Re:About as meaningful...

[GameboyRMH]

It definitely helped kick off some revolutions in the Middle East / North Africa, and most of those went pretty well...

Re:About as meaningful...

[Omestes]

I wouldn't say most; 2 of them have gone well (so far), around 4-5 of them are being met with harsh resistance and loss of life.

Re:About as meaningful...

[Anonymous Coward]

freedom isn't free

Re:About as meaningful...

[Omestes]

I wasn't saying it isn't worth it.

I still think the news from the North Africa and the Middle East is some of the best news I've heard since the fall of the Berlin Wall and Soviet Russia, it makes me hopeful for us as a species.

It just wouldn't say that they are mostly successful yet. Hopefully they will be, and hopefully the revolutionary spirit spreads to the bigger, nastier, fish in the region (Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran), and hopefully most of these revolutions don't get taken over by people worse than the governments that they're attempting to overthrow.

WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who ARE these people??? Do they think that we're just going to believe them that this guy is something special? What, they just stick up for their own countrymen or something? Are you SERIOUS?

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't post ac but other wise I’ll get modded down to oblivion by a bunch of propaganda swallowing Americans that want to be able to kill who ever they want when ever they want. Any way Assange is a stand up man that is willing to stand up to you nation of trolls so he deserves many medals.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[Anonymous Coward]

But he's afraid to go to Sweden to face the women he raped.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[Anonymous Coward]

the women the cia bribed.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[Anonymous Coward]

So much for your vaunted innocent until proven guilty, eh? I knew that was a load you didn't really believe in.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't post ac but other wise I’ll get modded down to oblivion by a bunch of propaganda swallowing Americans that want to be able to kill who ever they want when ever they want. Any way Assange is a stand up man that is willing to stand up to you nation of trolls so he deserves many medals.

STFU you Eurotrash faggot pussy.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[mcvos]

So much for your vaunted innocent until proven guilty, eh? I knew that was a load you didn't really believe in.

In thew US that concept has been dead for some time. Mind you, some European countries are doing their best to follow in those footsteps.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, 'raped'.
http://radsoft.net/news/20101001,01.shtml

Assange aside, calling this case 'rape' is an insult to real rape victims. It diminishes the severity of rape.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[nomadic]

Riiiiight, because slashdot is sooooo pro-American government.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[rainmouse]

Riiiiight, because slashdot is sooooo pro-American government.

It's painfully frequent I see moderation for -1 unpatriotic.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't post ac but other wise I’ll get modded down to oblivion by a bunch of propaganda swallowing Americans that want to be able to kill who ever they want when ever they want. Any way Assange is a stand up man that is willing to stand up to you nation of trolls so he deserves many medals.

STFU you Eurotrash faggot pussy.

Ironically this nerd raging does much to back up the previous posters claims.

Re:WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?

[Kagura]

Really? Let's try this. U.S.A. is Number One!!

must be a

[Anonymous Coward]

jewish foundation.

Re:must be a

[Anonymous Coward]

Lol, you pathetic antisemite. Just remember next time you look in the mirror, it is the Jews that achieve over 30% of Nobel Prizes, Field Medals, Chess Masters, and Best Writers. Every piece of technology, from quantum mechanics needed in advanced computing (Richard Feynman), to the actual computing architecture (Jon Von Neumann), to the relativity (Einstein) without which there is no space travel, there is no GPS, there would not even be a safe way to do standard air travel, all of this is created by the Jewish race, and never yours, even though the Jews only compose less than 0.3% of the earth's population. Neither you, nor your pathetic offspring, will ever have the genetics to accomplish even a 1/1000th of the great things the Jews have accomplished in this world. You are disgusting, you are not even a man.

Re:must be a

[Anonymous Coward]

In history class they taught us about some misguided guy trying clean up and/or purge all the bad genetics in his country. I think they called it geneticide... or something like that ;) So ya, keep talking about your great genetics - sounds like you're learning from the very best. Keep up the good work!

Re:must be a

[Anonymous Coward]

i think the jews would support assange maybe not the secret service killers but in genral.

Re:must be a

[Alex Belits]

I am Jewish, and Assange disappoints me -- he posts about all conspiracies except ours!

(I am actually Jewish, so I am allowed to make Jewish jokes).

Re:must be a

[Hazel Bergeron]

A. Different brains?
B. Different culture?
C. Favouritism?

Unfortunately, racists on either side are quick to highlight A or C. I'm not so fanatically politically correct that I'm going to dismiss A (we don't really know enough about the brain nor have we devised any suitable tests to determine) and C (it is human nature to support your own group, so if one group is already well established it might foster further success for that same group), but maybe there's quite a lot of B.

I mean, why are such a great proportion of students at Oxbridge from private schools? Could it be because the parents who have given their children a private education have tried to prioritise good education? We're not saying that every parent has the means to do that, but neither does every Jewish family have the means: all you need is significantly more Jewish families to want to prioritise their children's education, some of whom will also have the means to action their want, for them to end up overrepresented in some professional field. This sort of sentiment is cultural, passed down through families and community groups. It is a spirit perhaps to be learnt from, though perhaps not adopted wholesale: a graduate from a top university is just as likely to become a wanker banker as a life-enhancing scientist.

Re:must be a

[GameboyRMH]

If only these two opposing racist posts would annihilate each other...

Re:must be a

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sorry, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the Jewish ethnicity is superior. A lot of (arguably all) accomplishments are merely situational, rather than exclusively one's inborn qualities. Think about the fact that Jews had way more access to the social goodies than the rest of the population in the West, before WW2; for instance in Hungary, before being purged by the angry population: the Jewish population was 5%, while they were represented in certain professions in these ratios: ~90% percent of the members of the stock exchange, ~90% percent of the currency brokers, at least 50% of all the industry, ~40% university students, 60% doctors, 50% lawyers, and more. So, if you really want to make an ethnical comparison, use the samples that matters, not the entire population.

Besides, how did you infer that if Einstein and the others have not existed, we'd have had no GPS and other stuff? (Okay, maybe not exactly GPS, which is merely a brand) Their base ideas were already existing in the scientific community, perhaps we would have not have all the things you enumerated, but others, maybe better, maybe worse. What if Ancient Rome had not colonized Judaea, would you be driving a herd of goats around the desert nowdays?

You call those "standards" but you forget that they would have not existed in that alternate history. It's surprising that you, a "superior" mind, completely ignore causality, that you can't understand that current accomplishments are in a large part the products of society as a whole, let alone the butterfly effects that can transform the actions of the most insignificant people into the most important events in human history.

PS: Feynman just rullz, he's a model to me.

Re:must be a

[bstender]

come on MR, take a long breath. don't long to be something "great", be what you ARE...an irreplaceable part of the infinite wonder of this world.

shalom

yes

[unity100]

contrary to what you arrogant and self-centered right wingers in america tend to think, the people around the world think good of assange since he is exposing the SHIT that u.s. perpetrates around the world, ranging from bullying germany to prevent prosecution of the cia agents who kidnapped german citizens and tortured them in syria, to bullying spanish government to put out 3 strikes law to censor people for american copyright interests.

i find your disgust at exposition of such information, disgusting.

now scram.

Re:yes

[AHuxley]

Wikileaks v The Pentagon in rhythm and rhyme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3adw9oLBkBI
and on Wikileaks' Cablegate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl4NlA97GeQ

Re:yes

[Anonymous Coward]

I find your disgust at such a comment disgusting. Assange doesn't deserve the medal.

Now scram.

Re:yes

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like you got trolled once again, my boy. But it didn't stop your subprehensile brain from rushing out a 2-minute reply to someone who likely agrees with you.

Re:yes

[Anonymous Coward]

itt trolls trolling trolls

Re:yes

[countertrolling]

What?

Re:yes

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly.

Re:yes

[Anonymous Coward]

That's because whilst America screams about free speech, justice, liberty and so forth the only thing America really actually stands for is hypocrisy.

- Condemning countries who torture whilst torturing

- Screaming about justice and liberty whilst performing detention without trial, extraordinary rendition, and having a long history of assassinations

- Fining foreign firms for dodgy dealings whilst turning a blind eye to it's own

- Touting the importants of the WTO and how everyone should join it and adhere to it's rulings whilst ignoring rulings by the WTO against it

- Putting free speech at the centre of everything America claims to be about, whilst trying to silence the likes of Wikileaks

- Talking about peace, whilst being the largest warmonger of the last 50 years

- Complaining about terrorism whilst having a long history of having funded terrorists

- Patriotic talk of how their military is the greatest, and making fun of countries like France for their military history, whilst having lost or at least definitely failed to win pretty almost every major war or military incursion they've been involved in since World War II (e.g. Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq x2, Afghanistan)

- Talk about how China should stop polluting despite the fact China has far more investment, a far bigger programme, and a far better ratio of renewable energy use than the US and a third of oil use despite having over 4 times the population

Really, the list goes on, the case with Assange and American attempts to supress Wikileaks is just one of many examples of American hypocrisy lost in a sea of such problems. Americans fear the rise of China, India and so forth and talk of how dangerous the rise of these countries are, when really, the only thing that's causing the decline of the US is it's own complete and utter hypocrisy and the knock on effects of that.

Re:yes

[mldi]

OK, I agree with you. I just fail to see why political parties have a single damn thing to do with this and why you assume Parent was an "arrogant and self-centered right winger". Can't we keep this civilized and party free?

Re:yes

[Anonymous Coward]

Probably the most insightful comment I've read on /. in months.

Re:yes

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, let's do a quick reality check.

- Condemning countries who torture whilst torturing

The US tortures terrorist suspects (aka mass murderers and people attempting to commit mass murder in an attempt to get information to stop future mass murder), but the US condemns nations that tortures political dissidents. Same thing.

- Screaming about justice and liberty whilst performing detention without trial, extraordinary rendition, and having a long history of assassinations

Assassinations - like Kennedy? Anyway, the US is performing detention without trial and extraordinary rendition against terrorists or suspected terrorists. There's simply no doubt that a lot of people sitting in Guantanimo fell into that category. Out of curiosity, if you lived in a town with no law, a gang of people were out to kill your family, you caught a handful of them, but didn't know that all of them were guilty, would you release all of them? Something needs to be done, but I'm not sure that any options are good options. I actually wish all the prisoners in Guantanimo would just drop dead. It would solve a lot of problems.

One thing that world politics has taught me is how easy it is to take the high-ground when you've got nothing to lose.

- Fining foreign firms for dodgy dealings whilst turning a blind eye to it's own

Not sure what you're talking about, but there's a certain amount of "hypocrisy" in political warfare by definition. The US imprison's other nation's spies, but sends spies to other countries. Hypocrisy!

- Touting the importants of the WTO and how everyone should join it and adhere to it's rulings whilst ignoring rulings by the WTO against it

The US isn't ignoring all the WTO rulings against it.

- Putting free speech at the centre of everything America claims to be about, whilst trying to silence the likes of Wikileaks

Really? Wikileaks is supposed to be a "free speech" issue, rather than a release of classified information? That's such a bullshit description of wikileaks. I guess no nation that agrees to "free speech" is allowed to have any government secrets at all. [Sarcasm]Personally, I think the secrecy surrounding the Manhattan Project shows that America's "free speech" doctrine was a lie.[/Sarcasm]

- Talking about peace, whilst being the largest warmonger of the last 50 years

Yeah, being the world's policeman in a lawless world is quite a thankless task.

- Complaining about terrorism whilst having a long history of having funded terrorists

Long history of funding terrorists? What BS. By the way, did you see some of the recent documents about George Bush the First? He met with the Nicaraguans just after the group the US was covertly supporting (the Contras) had killed three nuns. George Bush put the screws to them about doing that and demanded that they hold elections or the US is cutting off aid because the US couldn't be supporting a group going around killing civilians. The US doesn't really fund terrorists - even if it's for no other reason than the political fallout that would happen if they were caught.

- Patriotic talk of how their military is the greatest, and making fun of countries like France for their military history, whilst having lost or at least definitely failed to win pretty almost every major war or military incursion they've been involved in since World War II (e.g. Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq x2, Afghanistan)

I like how many of those conflicts involved the UN, but as soon as they're cast as "losing wars" then they're suddenly they're the US' wars. Certainly, the US was the biggest player in all those wars, but if the US wasn't there, the UN forces alone would've been overrun immediately. The Korea war was basically won until the Chinese threw a million men into the war. (What? The US couldn't win a war when they were hugely outnumbered by the Chinese?)

The Vietnam war didn't have enough support from

Re:yes

[unity100]

have you considered that, i have a habit of using the suitable troll posts, to make points i have been wanting to make ? for the third parties reading them ? like you ?

Re:yes

[Anonymous Coward]

funny

Awarding the idea

[jhoegl]

I like the fact that they are awarding the idea of open government and open corporatism, but what has been released that has been worth all the hub-bub?

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Iraq war documents, for example.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

What about them?

Re:Awarding the idea

[TemperedAlchemist]

Showing how great of pains the US government goes through to prevent us from learning that their military doesn't live up to their propaganda.

Re:Awarding the idea

[aarggh]

I like the fact that they are awarding the idea of open government and open corporatism, but what has been released that has been worth all the hub-bub?

We could tell you but the U.S. gov would then probably have to kill you!

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

leaked diplomatic cables have been instrumental in the "arab spring"

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Showing how great of pains the US government goes through to prevent us from learning that their military doesn't live up to their propaganda.

And if you think every other government doesn't do exactly the same thing, then you're a fucking retard.

Re:Awarding the idea

[mykos]

And if you think every other government doesn't do exactly the same thing, then you're a fucking retard.

Everyone hiding secrets doesn't make hiding secrets the right thing to do, so you gotta start somewhere. Also, I don't think he claimed that nobody else was doing it.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Showing how great of pains the US government goes through to prevent us from learning that their military doesn't live up to their propaganda.

And if you think every other government doesn't do exactly the same thing, then you're a fucking retard.

There is a scale of 1 to 10. Most countries is somewhere around 3, but USA, North Korea, Libya and some other countries is set to 11.

Re:Awarding the idea

[sortius_nod]

Exactly. Add to this that the US has dragged other nations into their criminal wars. More people have died at the hands of US forces committing war crimes than any other nation over the last two decades.

Again, this is not to say other countries aren't doing this, but to claim that taking down Sadam for gassing 30 000 people by killing more than 10 fold people is fine is just wrong.

I know I'll get modded down by the US patriots, but war crimes are war crimes. No escaping it, no matter how just you think they are.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

In today's world, the "unthinkable" act of free speech and you knowing what your government does (instead of the other way around) seem to be already enough for a global witch hunt with accusations of "terrorism" and "rape".

Why do I get this weird feeling that we are on the downwards arm of a progress parabola, halfway between our best days, and the witch hunts and information control/manipulation of the religious fundamentalist dark ages?

Re:Awarding the idea

[Alex Belits]

When exactly North Korea or Libya were involved in wars abroad, leave alone committed war crimes while doing so?

If you compared fuckheadedness of leaders, I guess, all those three would indeed stand out (but then Iran, Saudi Arabia and US-installed current governments of Iraq and Afghanistan, and a large chunk of Africa would have to join them), but this has nothing to do with indiscriminate killing of foreigners, aggressive wars, or other war crimes.

Re:Awarding the idea

[antifoidulus]

Lemme guess, you are a European, the biggest mass murderers in history(whom have yet to really apologize for it in any meaningful way by the way). Yeah, real "peacenicks" there.

Re:Awarding the idea

[phantomfive]

Wait, what? What propaganda haven't they lived up to that was revealed by Wikileaks? As far as I can tell, the worst thing the military has done in the current campaigns was the Abu Ghraib scandal. I like reading Wikileaks stuff, but it seems to me that anyone who pays attention to the news and such will have a good idea of what the US military is capable of, and what it is doing. Some people were surprised by the Wikileaks releases, but that's because they don't pay attention.

That said, I really liked reading about US diplomats opinions of French racial issues. Or Yemen's attempts to take credit for US actions. Stuff like that is really fun to read.

Re:Awarding the idea

[AGMW]

What about them?

Maybe I got it all wrong, but in amongst all the info exposed, didn't US forces kill a couple of Reuters reporters? Didn't they lie about it? Didn't they say there wasn't any film of the incident when approached (FOI request) for the footage? Didn't that footage then miraculously appear? Ditto for a number of 'friendly fire' incidents?

Accidents happen, and when you're at war they can be bad, but you don't lie and cover it up or it's far more difficult to work out what happened to try and stop it happening again! It's like a four year old saying "it wasn't me", then wikileaks pointing out the chocolate all around your mouth!

Now the US (and others!) are trying to make Wikileaks out to be the bad guy - continuing the analogy, the US is saying "yer, but Wikileaks smells of wee!".

Re:Awarding the idea

[rainmouse]

And if you think every other government doesn't do exactly the same thing, then you're a fucking retard.

True, but consider that Bush quite freely admits that God told him to invade Iraq and that it was a holy crusade. Shame God couldn't also tell him there were no WMD there. The fact that a Country with frequently elects religious fundamentalist presidents who genuinely believe invisible men are telling them to invade other nations, also has enough nuclear weapons to extinguish all life on the planet. Yes this deserves some serious scrutiny and a man willing to risk his freedom and his life exposing the dirty things their military and global corporations get up to does actually deserve some kind of recommendation.

Now read through this staggeringly long list of military engagements and consider how many of them were necessary :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations#2000.E2.80.932009

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bush-god-told-me-to-invade-iraq-509925.html

Re:Awarding the idea

[metacell]

The Iraq war documents exposed that the number of civilians killed had been downplayed by the US military. If we are going to safeguard human rights, we first need to know the truth.

The "Cablegate" documents showed that my own country's toughened copyright legislation was due to pressures from the USA.

One of Wikileaks' most recent leaks exposed child slavery and prostitution in Saudi Arabia, which the Saudian government denies exists.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Lots of very important stuff, in my view. Also internationally a lot of interesting things have come out, such as proof that the Netherlands is storing nuclear weapons.

Here's a good source: http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/11/29/wikileaks_roundup

Re:Awarding the idea

[metacell]

What propaganda haven't they lived up to that was revealed by Wikileaks?
The US military likes to pretend their strikes are very precise and kills few civilians. The Afghan and Iraq war documents show that they fail to disclose many civilian deaths.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Depends on what corporate news source you use to tell you what's worth how much hub-bub.

Re:Awarding the idea

[metacell]

Yes, the video was called "Collateral Damage" by Wikileaks.

Re:Awarding the idea

[moortak]

Libya was actively involved in fueling the civil wars in Sierra Leone and other countries in the region.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

And if you think every other government doesn't do exactly the same thing, then you're a fucking retard.

Everyone hiding secrets doesn't make hiding secrets the right thing to do, so you gotta start somewhere. Also, I don't think he claimed that nobody else was doing it.

True, but you don't see Assange going after those other governments. If he really was following the principles he claims to uphold, then he'd be going after other governments like Syria, China, or Russia who do even worse things--like shoot their own citizens in the streets or jail political protesters and opponents. Dude just hates the US or is scared that others will come after him in ways he knows the US won't.

Re:Awarding the idea

[cavreader]

You willl get modded down because your assertions are not grounded in reality and are proferred in a context free environment. And stop with the fucking war crimes BS. War is killing and breaking things. The rules of war are nonsense because in the end there is not a single armed force on the planet that would allow any so called rules of war to stand in the way of them winning the war. Purposely targeting civilians is probably the only justifiable complaint in war so until you are willing to hold Syria, Libya, and pretty much every other country in the middle east to the same standard you complaints are just backgrouund noise. By the way what action would you recommend for punishing Saddam for gassing his citizens? Send the police in to arrest him? Apply the dreaded UN sanctions? Give him a good talking to? How about just ignoring him and complain about the US for being mean? What is your recommendation for dealing with the asshats in Syria who are busy shelling subdivisions and conducting mass arrests? I am really interested in how you would handle this problem.

Re:Awarding the idea

[intheshelter]

"Why do I get this weird feeling that we are on the downwards arm of a progress parabola, halfway between our best days, and the witch hunts and information control/manipulation of the religious fundamentalist dark ages?"

- Because we are? To be fair, I wouldn't blame just religion. I think there is plenty of blame to go around for greed and ego too, but either way you are correct, we are declining rapidly as a civilization. Funny thing when a Terminator movie spouts wisdom, "It's in your nature to destroy yourselves. "

Re:Awarding the idea

[DriedClexler]

(sooner)

Re:Awarding the idea

[neanderslob]

Yea, and they've also released documents on them as well. Wikki leaks seems to be equal opportunity in its leaking.

Re:Awarding the idea

[phantomfive]

I'm just going to chalk that up to your ignorance. If you'd paid attention, you'd see they pretend no such thing, and even apologize from time to time. Pay more attention.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Omestes]

True, but you don't see Assange going after those other governments.

I don't think Wikileaks "goes after" governments, I think they publish what other people give them. I'm sure if there was a someone who had access to the Chinese or French dirty laundry, they'd also publish that. No one has approached them with those, so they can't "go after" them. If you browse around their site, you'll find that they also cover leaks from places other than the U.S., they just haven't had any leaks quite as big as Cablegate or the Iraq war leak.

Wikileaks doesn't create leaks, they just facilitate people who want to leak information.

Also, the US is a very big, unpopular, target right now. We have tentacles in pretty much everything, and our government has managed to do some very unpopular things, both to foreigners and to our own. Hell, most of the people I know in the military disagree with our current wars, or at least how we're carrying them out. This creates a highly elevated chance of people leaking information. The more you upset peoples ethics and morals, the more likely they are to rebel.

Re:Awarding the idea

[steelfood]

The cables were the tipping point that led to the Jasmine Revolution. It's not necessarily a peaceful outcome, but it is a step in the right direction when oppressed populaces dispose of their own Western-backed dictators so that they can democratically elect their own leaders.

The ultimate outcome is uncertain, but at the very least, those people will hold a lot less hostility towards Western countries and their people if they're laying in a bed they made with their own hands instead of in one a Western power strapped them to. And if they're lucky, they might even end up with somebody decent leading them.

Re:Awarding the idea

[lwsimon]

This may be a minor quibble, but the very leaks in discussion here show that there were in fact many instances where WMDs were discovered and recovered in Iraq. The most common were gas-filled artillery shells, and some were even used in IED attacks, seemingly by chance.

It was kept quiet to keep the insurgents from knowing what they had, which seems prudent.

Re:Awarding the idea

[lwsimon]

Both Russia and China have committed governmental genocides larger than the Holocaust. See also, Cambodia.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Assange has asserted on several occasions that he was targeting the US and trying to derail it's foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. He's all but admitted (and maybe admitted by I just missed it) that he's rabidly anti-US. That's part of the reason that some of his crew broke away and have started their own Wikileaks competitor. They weren't happy that he was hell-bent on going after the US when there were plenty of other countries worth targeting for which Wikileaks had material and they wanted a site that was more balanced in picking its targets.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Alex Belits]

"Fueling"?

As in, sending military abroad to take over foreign countries, killing countless thousands of people in the process and throwing most of survivors into poverty?

Re:Awarding the idea

[moortak]

Your question wasn't if there was some degree of moral equivalence. You asked when Libya has been involved in wars abroad. The answer to that is all the time.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

if it was fair the same punishment America got for killing all those Indians.

Re:Awarding the idea

[bstender]

Dude just hates the US or is scared that others will come after him

Or the dude hasn't received anonymous submissions from those countries. (actually, he has released a few things from other countires, Nigeria I recall, and there's the Swiss banking stuff but not sure where else) But the USA is the fattest of fat targets, English speaking and hated worldwide, so it stands to reason that they would be featured.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Omestes]

You may be correct, but I can't tell unless you have some citations proving your point.

Also, are you sure he's anti-US and not just anti-IS foreign policy? I'm massively anti-IS foreign policy, and not anti-US (some of my best friends are American, including me).

Re:Awarding the idea

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't just blame religion out of a whim. :)
I did it because of hard science supporting that view.

Take religion, greed and ego.

Religion is the only one of those that is a ill state of mind. As you will know, religion is a light (and sometimes not so light) form of schizophrenia: Basing explanations about observations of the world on a delusional inner model, instead of basing the inner model on observations and reasoning about that observation from the world. Caused by people not being able to process reality anymore and it stopped being acceptable to their inner model of what is OK.

"Greed" is fundamentally not wrong. Only religion tried to brainwash us into thinking it is. Greed paired with ignorance and/or stupidity is wrong. But that's because those are the real vices. Greed without them is smart enough to know to not lose useful other people because of abuse/exploitation.

With "ego" it's the same. I can think I'm a god-genius all life long. But it's not unless I start ignoring reality (e.g. by not admitting I was wrong when I was), that it becomes bad.

The problem that makes people think it's greed, ego, etc, instead of ignorance and stupidity, is that religious "leaders" (who themselves, almost by definition, were the kings of ignorance and stupidity), established a system of abuse/exploitation of the successful people through social engineering on society as a whole.
In that system, people who don't throw away their work/life for strangers (instead of actually valuable friends and their own goals), get called greedy, egocentric, etc, and look down upon. And it just happens to be, that those who insult others, are those who profit from that work.
I hate to quote her, but in this case she's right: "It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there's someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master."
That's that system.

So when one looks past that system, one can see clearly (and I could prove this for every single case I tried it on), that in the end, it's always and without exception that combination of ignorance (= not accepting observations) and stupidity (= failing at what we call "logic", but what is just how the brain works).
Which both are the core "virtues" of religion. So much in fact, that they have become synonyms.

Re:Awarding the idea

[Alex Belits]

War crimes, not just wars. Aggressive war is a war crime. Support for one side of a massive conflict is not.

Re:Awarding the idea

[bstender]

Here's a brilliant comment on the wikileaks thang: The Rap News

Re:Awarding the idea

[metacell]

I'm sorry, but I think you've been misled.

From the Wikipedia article on the Afghan war documents:

Hundreds of civilians have been wounded or killed by coalition forces in several instances that were not previously revealed. The press listed several examples of such previously unreported incidents of civilian injuries and deaths. David Leigh of The Guardian wrote:

They range from the shootings of individual innocents to the often massive loss of life from air strikes, which eventually led President Hamid Karzai to protest publicly that the US was treating Afghan lives as "cheap". When civilian family members are actually killed in Afghanistan, their relatives do, in fairness, get greater solatia payments than cans of beans and Hershey bars. The logs refer to sums paid of 100,000 Afghani per corpse, equivalent to about £1,500.

Re:Awarding the idea

[phantomfive]

The US military likes to pretend their strikes are very precise and kills few civilians

This is what you said. If you'd been paying attention, you would have noticed that the military kept changing the rules of engagement, trying to reduce civilian deaths. They wouldn't have done this if their strikes were very precise and killed few civilians.

Re:Awarding the idea

[metacell]

Wikileaks has also, among other things, released documents exposing child slavery and prostitution in Saudi Arabia, which the Saudian government denies exists.

Re:Awarding the idea

[metacell]

Yes. I wrote they like to *pretend* their strikes are very precise and kill few civilans. As in keeping the outwardly appearance of it.

Re:Awarding the idea

[phantomfive]

Oh, I'm sorry you were deceived.

Re:Awarding the idea

[antifoidulus]

I wasn't talking about the holocaust, I was talking about European colonialism, ie the biggest mass slaughter in the history of humanity.

Articles about revelations

[traindirector]

what has been released that has been worth all the hub-bub?

Here's an article listing some of the revelations from 2010.

Re:Articles about revelations

[GameboyRMH]

- The Obama administration worked with Republicans during his first few months in office to protect Bush administration officials facing a criminal investigation overseas for their involvement in establishing policies that some considered torture. A "confidential" April 17, 2009, cable sent from the US embassy in Madrid obtained by WikiLeaks details how the Obama administration, working with Republicans, leaned on Spain to derail this potential prosecution.

HOOOLY SHIT! 8-(

I guess the conspiracy theory that the rivalry is all for the cameras is true, like the Looney Tunes Wolf and Sheepdog they're best buds again after they punch out of work...

Re:Articles about revelations

[lysdexia]

HOPE for the best.
PREPARE to be disappointed.

Re:Articles about revelations

[metacell]

Well, the rivalry may be true, but once the election is over, they may cover each other's backs, in the hope that the other party will do the same thing when the current president's term is over.

Hateful and Evil Organization

[TheMiddleRoad]

This is a worthless prize from a worthless, Jew-hating group that claims to support human rights while pushing a leftist, scary agenda.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[Anonymous Coward]

The Jews in Israel are 90% of the world's problems right now. The world would seriously be a better place if the United States stopped supporting their goal of subjugating the Arabs whose land they have stolen.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[Anonymous Coward]

Quick! Someone grab the pop corn!

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[Mitsoid]

Please provide citation from a reputable source for those that wish to verify your claim.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[Anonymous Coward]

-"Israel's actions suck and therefore Israel sucks."
-"That's wasis! ..no, wait! That's anticementite derp derp derp!"

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[TheMiddleRoad]

And this is why I make such comments. Jew-hating exists. The Sydney group partakes, even if naively.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[TheMiddleRoad]

Just look at their politics. Google is your friend. They're a leftist hate group masquerading under the banner of human rights. They single out Israel while Gazans launch a laser-guided missile at a school bus, murdering a child. It's a sick, twisted mindset.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[Anonymous Coward]

Israeli (nation) is not identical to Jew (religion), so don't confuse them. There are plenty of Jews who don't like what Israel does to the Palestinians (eg).

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[Anonymous Coward]

Jew is not a religion, Judaism is a religion. Jewish = Ethnicity, Judaism = Religion.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[mcvos]

There's a big difference between hating Jews and hating an oppressive regime. Not all Jews support Israel. I think that deserves to be pointed out every once in a while.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[TheMiddleRoad]

So you're saying Israel is a repressive regime? Do you know anything about the Middle East or the world for that matter? I bet you view Israel as a far greater problem area than Syria, but Syria is the one that has a repressive regime. Israel has a Democracy with citizens of all religions. Homosexuals can walk the streets holding their lover's hand without getting stoned to death. Christians don't run in terror from angry mobs, expect in the West Bank and Gaza. What an unusual repressive regime.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[TheMiddleRoad]

Every single hateful accusation leveled against Jews has been leveled against Israel and Zionists. They all mean the same thing. Jew-haters simply attempt to hid their hate speech by saying Zionist instead of Jew. It's using code words. Some of them even fool themselves into believing they love Jews but hate those evil Zionists.

These Jew-haters are all twisted and sick, especially the Jewish ones. History is filled with these "good Jews." Soros is one of them. Usually they're just undereducated leftists who get some blind blood lust when they see an underdog.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would you grab cop porn ?!

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[metacell]

Israel is a democracy and doesn't oppress its own citizens, but it behaves like a dick towards other peoples.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[mcvos]

But it also kicks families out of the house where they've lived for generations. It built a wall that separates farmers from their fields. Israel goes out of its way to disrupt the lives of normal Palestinian families. It's not oppressive to the people it likes, but it is oppressive to the people it oppresses. The fact that there are also people who are not oppressed by the Israeli government doesn't change this simple fact.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[Squiddie]

No one is arguing that Jewish people have rights in Israel, but try to find an Arab that is treated fairly there. Non-Jews are treated like second class citizens in Israel.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[Squiddie]

Hating what your country does when it does something evil, like killing or jailing protesters, is not Jew hating. Israels is a country that does not guarantee the rights of all its citizens, the Arab citizens especially. Israel steals land and only pretends to want peace. I guess it's only wrong if things like this are done to Jews, but no the other way around.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[drinkypoo]

Let's be clear on what Israel is. It was created by fiat to support some lines in a book somewhere that was written and edited by men. But more than that, it was created to maintain a state of tension in the region. It has worked brilliantly. The really genius part of it is that it created an entirely new schism among Jews, i.e. Zionist vs. Anti-Zionist. Which is much like "Pro-Life" vs. "Pro-Choice" in terms of the propriety of labels; because you can believe in the idea of the promised land without believing that it should be awarded by the U.N.

ObDisclaimer: I am not really a Jew, though I am probably a crypto-jew, but I think Jews are funny, especially the gay ones that run hollywood.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[nomadic]

You are incredibly dishonest, and profoundly ignorant of history. Anyone who equates criticism of the government of Israel with antisemitism is either a fool or a liar.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[TheMiddleRoad]

Anyone who denies the strong connection between antisemitism and exceptional criticism of Israel is a fool or a liar. How many times a year do you have critical thoughts towards Israel? How about Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, China, and Pakistan. Now put those in order of severity of human rights abuses. Put them in order of amount of freedom and respect for other cultures. Put them in order of standard of living of their most downtrodden groups. Israel will come out like roses on all those lists, as the absolute best on each one. However, I'm absolutely sure that Israel doesn't come out the best on your list of negative thoughts. It might even come out worst. It certainly seems to for this Sydney group of Jew-haters. Why might that be?

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[nomadic]

You're again, a liar. I have criticized every goddamn one of those countries you've mentioned. You are morally bankrupt if you think that Israel can escape all criticism (and that's what you're arguing, don't lie about that) because other countries also do bad things. People like you disgust me.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[TheMiddleRoad]

Nya nya nya! As much as you criticize Israel? You probably criticize everything and everyone, then. I'm sure you're a hoot at parties. Sure, granted, you're a paragon of fairness. Wow, one out of billions who aren't. Congrats.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[nomadic]

You can't even defend your position so you just make up other people's position; you know you've lost the argument when you have to keep saying stuff like "you probably argue X, which is bad!" rather than refute the actual arguments made. And at least I get invited to parties, troll.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[TheMiddleRoad]

You started with the ad hominem. What's your argument? You criticize everyone equally? Pratically impossible, and definitely stupid if it's true. Anyone sensible will save their criticisms for when truly deserved, and in that neighborhood and in this world, Israel IS THE MOST MORAL ARMY POSSIBLE. That Israelis are brutal? Brutal is firing a laser-guided missile at a school bus, murdering a child, then giving out candy in the street to celebrate the "victory". Brutal is what's happening in Syria. The opposite of brutal, building a fence to reduce the need for confrontation, precision targeting, and encouraging economic ties, are the methods of Israel. You, however, don't care much about those things. You see self-protection as aggression and aggression as "resistance" to aggression. It's the world on its head. Troll.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[bstender]

you are a real live cartoon! hilarious!!!

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[TheMiddleRoad]

Is it the one where the hook-nosed Jew is also a vulture in a Nazi uniform while marching poor, defenseless Palestinians off to the gas chamber? There are lots of political cartoons like that.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[bstender]

Israel has brought their brought their worldwide pariah status on themselves through sustained brutality and criminality combined with a uniquely malicious style of one-sided, distorted and condescending rhetoric. like you're doing here.

Justifying your incredibly cruel occupation and ethnic cleansing campaign by saying that others are worse is not only untrue, it's irrelevant. Your colonial enterprise is destined to implode under its own racism, inhumanity and illegality, NOT under it's Jewishness.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[bstender]

Just referring to your trolling taken to the comical level. Picture Charlie Chaplin doing physical gags, made funnier bc they are so obviously stupid and familiar, with big sad eyes after each pratfall. I just don't see that level of blackface here on slashdot very often.

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[bstender]

"Israel is a democracy and doesn't oppress its own citizens" ... (as long as they are Jewish)

"but it behaves like a dick towards other peoples."

A better analogy is like a monster; over 60 years of continuous inhuman oppression, cruelty and cold-blooded murder. Combined with so many lies! My god, such cold blood. Using the good will toward the Jewish people to take every advantage. Look at the troll who started this thread, using the same mendacious claims that we've heard a thousand times, all twisted and designed to cast doubt on plain facts. Never a moment of honest debate, just move to the next talking point then move to the next forum. They have a govt department with pamphlet for Hisbaratchniks to use to troll internet forums and keep the disinformation alive as awareness of the honest facts of this land grab is the end of it. Happily that day is dawning!

Re:Hateful and Evil Organization

[metacell]

Honestly, I think the top post in this thread was just flamebaiting.

The real question is -

[Black Parrot]

Did he know before they announced it?

Re:The real question is -

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, he and (potentially) a whole world knew: it was "leaked" at least since early February.

How's this relevant?

Sydney says: Me too!

[donscarletti]

So it's been around 14 years, so basically before Assange it has only awarded one prize to someone who did not already have a nobel peace prize at the time of the award. Having grown up in Sydney I have got to say I am pretty uninterested in this me-too institution. Since I doubt many Australians will do anything worthy of the attention of the Norweigian government or whoever awards these things, maybe starting with Assange they can make it a sort of domestic competition with lesser criteria.

Re:Sydney says: Me too!

[Anonymous Coward]

How long until US Americans hand out 'World Peace Awards' to their own people?

Re:Sydney says: Me too!

[Jeek Elemental]

The nobel peace prize committee is chosen by norwegian parliament but is otherwise independent.
I have no idea how Obama got it tho, maybe it was to show they have a sense of humour.

Id say Wikileaks, Assange and Manning would be worthy recipients.

Re:Sydney says: Me too!

[Anonymous Coward]

Obama only got it because he's the first non pure white president of the USA. It was a racial thing.

Re:Sydney says: Me too!

[Anonymous Coward]

The nobel peace prize committee is chosen by norwegian parliament but is otherwise independent.
I have no idea how Obama got it tho, maybe it was to show they have a sense of humour.

Id say Wikileaks, Assange and Manning would be worthy recipients.

The original idea behind the Nobel prize, was that it was to be given to preferably young and up-and-coming people that had done great deeds for humankind or science during the past year (not years), and was in a position where they was expected to (continue to) do great deeds for humankind, so that they would have money and more influence to better the world. The will of Alfred Nobel have since the first prize was awarded been mostly ignored and now the prize is giving for "life long contributions" to a lot of old coots that is past their productive peak, the opposite of what was originally intended.

In accordance to the original will of Alfred Nobel, Obama was in a position where him getting the prize would strengthen his possibilities to do great things for humankind.

Sometimes the Nobel peace prize have been given to really horrible people as a mean of extortion to make them behave peacefully and putting them into the spotlight so that they wouldn't fall back into committing atrocities against humanity. As in 1994 when it was given to the two corrupted old warmongers Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, two war criminals each responsible for millions of deaths.

Re:Sydney says: Me too!

[Anonymous Coward]

So it's been around 14 years, so basically before Assange it has only awarded one prize to someone who did not already have a nobel peace prize at the time of the award. Having grown up in Sydney I have got to say I am pretty uninterested in this me-too institution. Since I doubt many Australians will do anything worthy of the attention of the Norweigian government or whoever awards these things, maybe starting with Assange they can make it a sort of domestic competition with lesser criteria.

Aussies like having their heads in the sand/couldn't care less attitude, as long as it doesn't spoil the footy, party,pub & bbq

Re:Sydney says: Me too!

[bstender]

that's an interesting angle. Is it that he speaks and behaves like a white person? ie., sets a 'good' example?

(not trolling)

Bradley Manning?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm just saying.

History is written by the winners.

[Anonymous Coward]

War crimes..... That term does not apply to the winners of the war.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[sortius_nod]

The US didn't win the American war in Vietnam, committed war crimes, and no one was brought before the Internation War Crimes Tribunal. So this doesn't ring true really.

It's more that whoever controls the information controls whether someone is brought up on war crimes charges.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[Anonymous Coward]

The US didn't win the American war in Vietnam, committed war crimes, and no one was brought before the Internation War Crimes Tribunal. So this doesn't ring true really.

For the time being, it does ring true. Like in "Formal logic 101":
"if you win the war, war crimes charges are not brought to against you" do not necessary imply that "if you are not charged with war crimes, you are a winner" (but rather "if you are charged with war crimes, you didn't win the war")

Re:History is written by the winners.

[sortius_nod]

I still reject this idea. It's about information, not who "won".

Re:History is written by the winners.

[man_of_mr_e]

Vietnam wasn't a war, it was a police action. We were there at the behest of south vietnam government. We were basically "hired guns". War requires occupation, which means that not only are there troops there, but we're also the government. Unlike the situation in Iraq where we overthrew the government and installed our own.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[Anonymous Coward]

We have committed war crimes. Oops! Quick, let us call this invasion a "police action". Oh if someone else takes "police action" on our soil, we will call them terrorists! We install our governments in foreign countries but we are not imperialists. No sir!

Re:History is written by the winners.

[man_of_mr_e]

WTF?

Are you suggesting that 9/11 was the same thing as Vietnam? Really? Good thing you said that as an AC.

The US went into vietnam at the south vietnamese governments request. I think there's a little bit of difference there.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[intheshelter]

The US went into Vietnam because we were asked by FRANCE, who wanted to keep their little Asian colonial empire, which was rapidly ending as Vietnam was struggling for independence.

And no, he's not saying that 9/11 is the same as Vietnam, what he's saying is that we in American are a bunch of hypocrites. If someone does something to us, it's terrorrism, if we bomb the shit out of someone else, it's liberation. If we repel people attacking us we are heroes, if someone else does it it's terrorism. If someone captures our servicemen we expect humane treatment, if we capture one of theirs we torture them at guantanamo.

You can't have it both ways. We should not have been in Vietnam. We should not have been in Kuwait. We should not have been in Irag. Those last two things alone are what pissed of the Islamic nutjobs (American boots in their holy land) and caused them to plan and execute 9/11. Everyone else in the world looks at us and sees our hypocrisy. Most Americans are too busy waving the flag at the monster truck show to look deeply at how our country is behaving and face the harsh realities that we are not the world leaders in morality, justice and freedom that we like to think we are.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[intheshelter]

Just out of curiosity, why did you say "good thing you said that as an AC?" If you knew who it was what would you have done? Bomb him? Invade his country? Capture and torture him at Guantanamo? Put a warrantless wiretap on his phone? Put him on a no-fly list because he had a dissenting opinion?

Re:History is written by the winners.

[anagama]

That's like saying an americano isn't coffee because in one you expose coffee grounds to a small amount of water under pressure after which you dilute it with plain hot water, and in the other you expose coffee grounds to the same volume of liquid as the finished pot will hold. In then end, you still get a coffee flavored drink with caffeine, so the distinction in preparation has little bearing on the physiological effects.

To say that Viet Nam was not a war ignores the fact the multitudes were murdered in the most heinous manner possible. I bet the dead and scarred really don't see any difference between the terms.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[man_of_mr_e]

Actually, Kuwait was completely justified. Repelling Sadams forces there was the right thing to do. We pushed Sadam back and re-instanted the legal government and stepped back. Going into Iraq was a lot more muddy though.

And no, France did not control Vietnam anymore. Vietnam officially granted Vietnam independance in 1954, and they were done with it.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[man_of_mr_e]

No, I was merely pointing out that he didn't have the balls to put his name next to his words. Even his psuedonym.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[man_of_mr_e]

There was a Vietnam war, but that war was between South Vietnam and North Vietnam. The US and China, respectively, were there to support each side.

By your definition, the US Revolutionary war was a war between France and England. France supported us, but was not at war with England themselves.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[Anonymous Coward]

kill squad 6

Re:History is written by the winners.

[bstender]

Actually, Kuwait was a complete setup. Kuwait was slant drilling into a disputed oil field and this feud went on for quite some time. (very likely at US bidding) The US ambassador told her Iraqi counterpart that the US had no interest in their regional squabble. As soon as Iraq moved to physically stop Kuwait the US made their move, falsified stories of the incubators, falsified stories of Iraqi troop movements, and other things to paint the picture to justify the attack on Iraq and bring it down. The reason is that Saddam was losing his ability to control the Baath party and becoming an increasingly unreliable puppet. and of course this was primarily a concern for Israel more than anything else. Hence the first war, the sanctions and the eventual coup de grace once they were completely broken and had the right political conditions to pull off the illegal invasion.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[anagama]

France and England were constantly warring during that time period so yeah, the revolution was part of their constant warring with each other.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[man_of_mr_e]

Sounds like a lot of conspiracy theory to me. doesn' mean it's not true, but I see no evidence to support it.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[man_of_mr_e]

But, it was not a war between France and England. That's my point.

The Vietnam war was a war between North and South Vietname. It was not a war between the US and North Vietname. The US was supporting the South Vietnamese.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[bstender]

it's ironic how _every_ non-official narrative is automatically labelled a "conspiracy theory" when the official narrative, especially in matters of war is, as a rule, a conspiracy.
anyway, it's been many years, but there's enough stuff, plenty of motive and means, that it is hard to deny. I mean, do you really think the USA would run a 15 year campaign, full of arbitrary destruction and malice, to "save" a bunch of brown-skinned people from their own CIA asset? (an asset who actually started working FOR his own people, setting very bad 'socialist' examples in the region). try google.com, "kuwait slant drilling" or maybe "kuwait iraq setup" or similar.

Re:History is written by the winners.

[man_of_mr_e]

There's a difference between a conspiracy, and a conspiracy theory. A theory is not proven, and is just allegations (often without any evidence, or selective evidence that ignores contrary evidence).

If there was credible evidence, then there would be credible people pursuing it.

Awesome

[teetshirt]

It's genius founded wikileaks. http://www.tee-tshirt.com/

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[Anonymous Coward]

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What the fuck

[Anonymous Coward]

Manning risked everything and has and will continue to pay dearly for it. Assange has risked substantially less and really we only talk about him because of the actions of Manning.

Re:What the fuck

[Anonymous Coward]

That is kind of fucked up. So we should see assange re hand it to Manning.

Manning?

[muffen]

Bradley E. Manning should get this price, he is the real hero. He put his life on the line to release this information, what did Assange risk?
Manning was held naked in a prison cell without windows for 23 hours a day, Assange won't even go to Sweden to face the charges for sex-crimes (not even after being assured he will not be sent to any other country without britains concent).

Re:Manning?

[Anonymous Coward]

Assange won't even go to Sweden to face the charges for sex-crimes (not even after being assured he will not be sent to any other country without britains concent (sic) ).

There are no charges.

Re:Manning?

[LordLucless]

Not to disagree with you on Manning being a hero, but why should the criteria be how much they "risked" rather than how much they accomplished? Wikileaks has released more than just Manning's material.

Re:Manning?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not to disagree with you on Manning being a hero, but why should the criteria be how much they "risked" rather than how much they accomplished? Wikileaks has released more than just Manning's material.

True, but the other stuff didn't get much attention compared to Collateral Murder, the war reports and the diplomatic cables.

Re:Manning?

[Anonymous Coward]

For Assange, he directs the leaking organization and he might have faced death by "assassination" while residing squarely in another country (though it seems unlikely). For Manning, he had a good chance of being legally killed by his own country and was already in their hands. I think it was Manning who took the bigger risk and will suffer the more severe consequences.

Perhaps that is a matter of opinion. The heroes I've read about weren't the people issuing orders, but the guys who actually fought the war.

Re:Manning?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well because Assange's accomplishment is being a widely read attention whore and Manning's accomplishment is violating federal law to promote his agenda.

Re:Manning?

[Anonymous Coward]

Manning was held naked in a prison cell without windows for 23 hours a day

at least he didn't have to install four critical and two optional updates!

Re:Manning?

[nomadic]

For Assange, he directs the leaking organization and he might have faced death by "assassination" while residing squarely in another country (though it seems unlikely).

Very unlikely. Assange has been very careful to only anger countries that aren't going to have him liquidated. Do you think Assange has the guts to go against, say, Russia?

Re:Manning?

[lwsimon]

Bradley a hero? It seems to me he simply leaked everything he could get his hands on. That makes him a traitor, not a hero.

Now, had he had a grievance with the way things are being done, found evidence of wrongdoing, and released that - he might have a case for being something other than a simple traitor. He didn't do that, though - he downloaded everything classified he could and sent it to a foreign national who he knew would disclose it to the enemies of the US. That's espionage.

If you agree with him, that's fine. That makes you a sympathizer. You have every right to be a sympathizer, but to pretend anything different is simply an attempt to fool yourself.

Re:Manning?

[AP31R0N]

The only award that traitor should get is the privilege of making little rocks out of big rocks for the rest of his life.

Bullshit politics

[DNS-and-BIND]

Well, we see here the award isn't given to honor the recipient, it's given to make the elites of Sydney feel good. The Dalai Lama is a rather unsavory character in many respects, although you'll never hear anything against him in the Western media as the narrative has firmly been established and anyone who says otherwise must be insane. Naming Nelson Mandela was another feelgood exercise. Daisaku Ikeda is a religious freak. Religion! What the hell? How on earth does any religion get any honor at all? I thought everyone was in agreement that religious people are total morons? Did this change overnight? Daisaku Ikeda's cult is like Scientology, members have made bomb threats against rival cults (the source is the New York Times, so you know it's true because they're fact-checked). He's a big player in Japan's New Komeito political party, sort of like how the Koch brothers influence American politics in a negative direction. And now we have Assange's award, another totally political statement.

This Sydney Peace Medal is just more bullshit, just elites scratching each other's backs. It means nothing...sort of like the Nobel Peace Prize in that respect (note the similarity of names...a total coincidence I'm sure).

Re:Bullshit politics

[Anonymous Coward]

NYTimes is fact-checked? Only a yank would be dumb enough to say that...

The death of relevance...

[Anonymous Coward]

Mandela, Dalai Lama, Ikeda.... prolific writers, peace activists and leaders who have been repeatedly recognized internationally for their selfless actions. And they add to that list a pseudo-anarchist egomanaical twit who runs a sensationalist media outlet under the guise of altruism? It will take another 3 years of self-important dinners and newsletters, but the Sydney Peace Foundation is already gearing up to present Mel Gibson with their 2014 Gold Medal for Racial and Religious Tolerance.

As for Wikileaks, gone is the myth of freedom of information with their new internal gag order. Do as we say, not as we do. Honestly though, you have to protect that first-release-based profit margin somehow... even though he seems to spend most of his time abroad shacking up with stupid young girls or living in other peoples' houses, I'm sure Assange's rock star globe-trotting was quite expensive before his arrest.

Today Assange...

[Richard_at_work]

Tomorrow, you, in your breakfast cereal.

Talk about cheapening the award, if it had any value in the first place...

Re:Today Assange...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah fuck off, Assange has accomplished more than you would given a thousand lifetimes. You might have seen the news about the Spring uprisings in Arab nations? How about him finally giving America's corporate masters something to worry about?

I'm sure you were high-fiving and punching the air (alone) when Mark Zuckerberg was announced Time person of the year. For his services in hastening the formation of police states around the world. Assange does the exact opposite and he is vilified by all. Keep drinking the Kool-Aid.

Re:Today Assange...

[nomadic]

You might have seen the news about the Spring uprisings in Arab nations?

Good grief, I knew slashdotters were delusional but this is beyond anything I've seen there. Assange did not cause the Spring uprisings. He may have claimed credit for them because he's a narcissistic little troll, but he did not cause them.

Irony

[lyinhart]

How ironic. I have varying opinions on all the past recipients named, but all of them have actually been the center of conflicts, more so than defusing them. So in retrospect, Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize wasn't such a bad idea since most folks agree on global warming and don't launch armed conflicts about the issue.

Re:Irony

[Chowderbags]

I thought Al Gore won because all you have to do is play a recording of his voice on a battlefield to get all combatants to fall asleep.

Re:Irony

[lysdexia]

But you forget he is one of the happy few born with the ability to sing the "brown note". I think he and Tipper attended Dead shows in the hopes that he could bum rush the stage and cause a massive, septic outfreakage, man.

Swedish Court System - A medieval political circus

[FriendlyLurker]

The Sweden "court system" for this issue is almost a regular medieval political circus. Look at what Sweden has all but promised Assange in his "fair" trial: Solitary confinement before trial without access to his lawyers. Closed door secret court - no one will hear let alone be able to refute any testimonies. Three of the four judges to be (or appointed by) politicians! Not to forget that the case was closed before being reopened by, you guessed it, a politician - apparently because they say the girls did not know they were being raped at the time and it is up-to their court of laypersons to decide (I kid you not, crazy system Sweden has, huh). The rabbit hole of deceit by Swedish authorities goes way deeper than most would like to see however - in this case starting with the Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny, lawyer Mr Claes Borgström and their relationship with the Swedish Democrat party which stands to gain from this circus.

Who in the right mind would not try to fight for a fairer trial than this? I don't care if it is Assange or anyone else, Sweden should be ashamed of these "courts", if you can even call them that.

The only good thing coming out of this abuse is the increased scrutiny on the very broken European extradition laws - and perhaps some Swedish rethinking their leaders (although the last election shows this to be unlikely).

Animation Courses

[Anonymous Coward]

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Ikeda???????

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sorry, but as a Japanese national, I have to question the credibility of any prize that goes to that cult megalomaniac.

Actually...

[denzacar]

That is the name of a video with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The video of US military forces killing civilians, which was released by WikiLeaks was labeled "Collateral Murder".

Re:Actually...

[metacell]

My bad.

Re:Swedish Court System - A medieval political cir

[Co0Ps]

I'm Swedish and this is 100% accurate, +100 Insightful. The Swedish justice system is a huge embarrassment and completely broken. Hopefully this case will shed some light on it so it can be fixed.

You also forgot to mention two other interesting facts of Claes Borgström, both of which you can find in his Wikipedia article. First of all he was the attorney of Thomas Quick, a case that is one of the biggest scandals in Swedish justice history. Basically Quick was mental and admitted to a whole bunch of murders he never committed and was sentenced guilty without a shred of evidence. Secondly Claes Borgström is an extreme left wing feminist nutjob that thinks men has a "collective guilt" against women and should pay a special tax for being men.

Re:Swedish Court System - A medieval political cir

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm Swedish and used to live there.
Being a man in Sweden is like being a woman in Saudi Arabia.
I just couldn't stomach being forced to pay atrocious amounts of tax to finance those who opress you.
I chose to emigrate and I'm happy I did so.

The comment section

[jgtg32a]

"Both side" have gone full retard.

Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

Elsewhere, In Sweeden:

[Anonymous Coward]

AP, STOCKHOLM: Wikileaks frontman Julian Assange had to be moved to a larger prison cell after his head swelled to an unprecedented massive size. Prison guard Fjorderguundersoghjderdner Vargusgjarganger, who was on the scene at the time said "I was eating some pickled fish when Mr Assenge heard the news about his peace medal, his head just blew up like a balloon. I've never seen anyone with such a big head"

Seriously though, I'm glad wikileaks is in business, the amount of international political ass-covering it has caused is hilarious. But I suspect Julian Assange is a douchebag IRL.

saddening

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the most important thing to remember here is that a man its being awarded a peace medal and the person who helped him is being charged with aiding the enemy. Peace and honesty are now enemies of the us federal government

You include humanitarian missions?

[Quila]

Your "staggeringly long" list includes everything the military did, including humanitarian missions and evacuations. A lot more of those were peacekeeping missions under the UN.

Re:You include humanitarian missions?

[Anonymous Coward]

1854 – Nicaragua. July 9 to 15. Naval forces bombarded and burned San Juan del Norte (Greytown) to avenge an insult to the American Minister to Nicaragua.[R

Of course the medal contains a GPS tracker.

[thisisauniqueid]

(Accepting physical objects as gifts when you're Julian Assange) = (bad idea).

i dont get it.

[unity100]

was your post, meant to acquit u.s. ? or, justify what it is doing ? or, tell us that, what u.s. is doing is no worse than what others are doing ?

Re:i dont get it.

[Cryacin]

I don't know, but that amount of strawmen is surely a fire hazard!

Re:Swedish Court System - A medieval political cir

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully this case will shed some light on it so it can be fixed.

That's scheduled for the day after Libya's first democratic election.

Obama Nobel

[luk3Z]

Obama Nobel is a joke. USA wage 3 wars currently. BTW you should watch "The Obama Deception 2009".

Streaming on-demand WikiLeaks video series

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you think Julian Assange deserves the Sydney Peace Foundation's gold medal? Check out the streaming on-demand video series, WikiLeaks: Security Threat or Media Savior? at FORA.tv (http://f4a.tv/eFjoq1)

mh

[KingBenny]

if the dalai lama ever won a medal he should have dismissed it, his boss would have since nothing ever lasts, and the ultimate state of being is the ultimate state of fuck you (i dont mean to be disrespectful but the smiling buddha is in a state of extreme fuck it all) the dude should never have gotten into politics, something he realized by now, he's only human after all, i guess that's a decent punishment for taking on the title of 'his holiness'