Assange’s real ‘crime’ is  exposing US atrocities

JEREMY CORBYN was right to tweet that the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government.

The left was unfortunately right when it pointed out that the Swedish “charges” against Assange were a smokescreen behind which lay the hidden hand of the US government, which is desperate to extract its pound of flesh by making an “example” of the WikiLeaks founder so that no-one else would have the guts to follow.

The US Justice Department said that what WikiLeaks achieved was one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States. But every bit of it was in the public interest.

WikiLeaks revealed film footage of US Apache helicopters gunning down a dozen civilians, including two journalists working for Reuters, in Baghdad. The men were completely unarmed and yet the lead helicopter pilot said casually after murdering them: “Ha ha ha. I hit ’em!”

WikiLeaks exposed how the US spies on its allies and how the CIA can watch you through your mobile phone. It showed that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took vast sums of money from Wall Street for secret speeches that reassured the bankers that she was their friend.

In 2016, WikiLeaks revealed a direct connection between Clinton and Islamist terrorism in the Middle East. One email disclosed that when Clinton was secretary of state, she knew that Saudi Arabia and Qatar were funding Islamic State and yet she accepted huge donations for her foundation from both countries’ governments.
Assange’s “crime,” as editor of WikiLeaks, has been to help us make sense of dark times. The hundreds of thousands of shameful US government classified documents leaked by his organisation have an impeccable record of accuracy and authenticity which no newspaper or TV channel can equal. They are the truth!

There is an online petition calling for Assange’s freedom at internal.diem25.org/en/petitions/1. It should to be signed by everybody that values real journalism. Please share it far and wide.

MARK HOLT
Waterloo

We need clarity on the reasons for the Soviet Union’s collapse

I LOOK forward to reading Kate Clark’s intended book on the defeat of the USSR. However, I hope it avoids overcomplicated conclusions.

The Soviet Union was a socialist state that was defeated in the international class struggle, in which two factors stand out.

Firstly, the nuclear/space arms race and its impact on the Soviet economy. Remember the US Star Wars programme, the threats and imperialism’s ideological offensive.

Secondly, it has become clear that as the Gorbachev era progressed, the vanguard role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) seriously degenerated, with its rank and file confused and alienated from the organised working class. In this situation, the forces of counter-revolution seized the initiative and the people rallied to their cause. The CPSU was essentially paralysed.

Important lessons for those engaged in today’s struggle are the need to retain ideological and political clarity and to keep focused on capitalism’s aims and manoeuvres.

BRIAN TOPPING
North Shields

Don’t miss chance to put Lexit case

THE problem with the left calling for a total boycott of the European Parliament elections in May means that the entire ground will be ceded to the right.

None of us wish to entertain participating in an election that should not be taking place, but by remaining silent in boycott, we are potentially throwing away the chance to put a case for a socialist Brexit to the people.

If left candidates stood on a pro-Leave ticket and were victorious, then they could simply refuse to take their seats, as Sinn Fein does at Westminster.

A whole host of empty seats would show the utter contempt of the British people for the entire EU project.

KRISTIAN CARTER
Kettering

Will Francois condemn Johnson for insulting Muslim women?

TONY BRISCOE (M Star April 12) raises a good point regarding Mark Francois’s assertion on The World at One on Radio 4 that Jeremy Corbyn is anti-semitic.

The views given about Corbyn, that I’m aware of, concern interpretations of what he has said or done.

What needs little interpretation is Boris Johnson’s statements in the Daily Telegraph about Muslim women, which the Telegraph, as I understand, refused to retract. Is Francois going to call Johnson Islamophobic on the BBC?

If I remember correctly, Francois’s interviewer did say that others might not agree with his comments, so there is hope yet that the BBC will one day be truly neutral.

Gavin Robinson
London SW17