The National Security State Has Already Won

The National Security State Has Already Won in U.S. Versus Assange

Jacob G. Hornberger

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.

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.

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