Julian Assange Historic speech @ Ecuador Embassy 19/08/2012

Compiled by Evan F.Moore:

Some of my favorite excerpts from the speech:

“As Wikileaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression and the health of all our societies. We must use this moment to articulate the choice that is before the government of the United States of America.”

“Will it return to and reaffirm the values, the revolutionary values it was founded on, or will it lurch off the precipice dragging us all into a dangerous and oppressive world, in which journalists fall silent under the fear of prosecution and citizens must whisper in the dark?”

“I say it must turn back. I ask President Obama to do the right thing. The United States must renounce its witch-hunts against Wikileaks. The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation.”

“The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters. The United States must pledge before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful.”

“And to the Army Private who remains in a military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, who was found by the United Nations to have endured months of torturous detention in Quantico, Virginia and who has yet – after two years in prison – to see a trial: he must be released.”

“On Wednesday, Bradley Manning spent his 815th day of detention without trial. The legal maximum is 120 days.”

My final thoughts on this: After what has happened to African-Americans in this county it’s sad that two black men(Obama and Holder) are leading the charge of jingoism. Julian Assange and Bradley Manning should not be the scapegoat while U.S. foreign policy is allowed to run amuck.