Antiwar.com Blog

‘Do the Right Thing,’ Say Assange Defenders as Biden Mulls Dropping Case

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday said his administration is weighing the Australian government’s requests to drop charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been deprived of his freedom since 2010 and is currently jailed in London’s notorious Belmarsh Prison while fighting extradition to the United States.

Asked by reporters at the White House about requests from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and members of the country’s Parliament for the U.S. and United Kingdom to drop the extradition effort and charges against Assange – an Australian citizen – Biden said that “we’re considering it.”

Stella Assange, Julian’s wife, responded to Biden’s remarks on social media. “Do the right thing,” she wrote. “Drop the charges. #FreeAssangeNOW.”

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Conflicts of Interest: Israel Intentionally Slaughtered Entire Palestinian Families

On COI #569, Kyle Anzalone breaks down the recent news from Gaza.

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Crimes Against Humanity in Gaza

Among the many brutalities in war prohibited under international humanitarian law are starvation of civilian populations and deliberate attacks on aid workers. Here are some new findings worth considering as we ponder the continued decline of human security in the Gaza fighting.

Starvation

By now we are all familiar with the appalling food situation in all parts of Gaza. Now, a multi-party global initiative known for short as the IPC – which stands for Integrated Food Security Phase Classification – has documented and closely analyzed the matter.

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The Many Ways Canada Could Send Message to Israel

Canada’s arms ban made international headlines. But in reality, Ottawa isn’t severing assistance to Israel’s military.

In a first, Parliament spent a full day debating a motion on the Israel/Palestine conflict. The March 18 opposition day motion presented by the social democratic NDP called for Canada to recognize Palestine, fund UNRWA and “support the work of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court” on Israel. The motion also called to “suspend all trade in military goods and technology with Israel.”

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Conflicts of Interest: Can Ukraine Stop the Coming Russian Offensive?

On COI #568, Kyle Anzalone discusses the war in Ukraine.

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3 Months of the Illegal War in Yemen

Almost three months after it began, the illegal U.S. war with the Houthis in Yemen continues. The war has failed to halt attacks on Red Sea shipping. As of last week, the U.S. and its allies have reportedly launched over four hundred strikes on targets in Yemen, but the repeated attacks on the Houthis appear to have done nothing but make them even more determined to launch more attacks of their own.

Military action was never likely to force an end to the attacks on shipping. Using force in this case was a blunder, and it has made it more difficult to resolve the situation now that the U.S. and its allies have killed dozens on the Houthi side. The U.S. and its allies have been fortunate so far not to have suffered any casualties, but their forces remain at risk on an unnecessary mission.

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