Assange Accuser Worked with US-Funded, CIA-Tied Anti-Castro Group

[FreakinDJ]

Assange Accuser Worked with US-Funded, CIA-Tied Anti-Castro Group

Yesterday Alexander Cockburn reminded us of the news Israel Shamir and Paul Bennett broke at Counterpunch in September. Julian Assange’s chief accuser in Sweden has a significant history of work with anti-Castro groups, at least one of which is US funded and openly supported by a former CIA agent convicted in the mass murder of seventy three Cubans on an airliner he was involved in blowing up.

Anna Ardin (the official complainant) is often described by the media as a “leftist”. She has ties to the US-financed anti-Castro and anti-communist groups. She published her anti-Castro diatribes (see here and here) in the Swedish-language publication Revista de Asignaturas Cubanas put out by Misceláneas de Cuba. From Oslo, Professor Michael Seltzer points out that this periodical is the product of a well-financed anti-Castro organization in Sweden. He further notes that the group is connected with Union Liberal Cubana led by Carlos Alberto Montaner whose CIA ties were exposed here.

Quelle surprise, no? Shamir and Bennett went on to write about Ardin’s history in Cuba with a US funded group openly supported by a real terrorist: Luis Posada Carriles.

In Cuba she interacted with the feminist anti-Castro group Las damas de blanco (the Ladies in White). This group receives US government funds and the convicted anti-communist terrorist Luis Posada Carriles is a friend and supporter. Wikipedia quotes Hebe de Bonafini, president of the Argentine Madres de Plaza de Mayo as saying that “the so-called Ladies in White defend the terrorism of the United States.”

http://my.firedoglake.com/kirkmurphy/2010/12/04/assanges-chief-accuser-has-her-own-history-with-us-funded-anti-castro-groups-one-of-which-has-cia-ties/

[Name removed]

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[NYCGirl]

2. The rush to smear Assange's rape accuser

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/12/07/julian_assange_rape_accuser_smeared

Still, as the New York Times put it, "there is no public evidence to suggest a connection," which some members of the public seem to find unbearably frustrating. With no specific target for their suspicions and no easy way to find one, folks all over the blogosphere have been settling for the next best thing: making light of the sexual assault charges and smearing one of the alleged victims.

By Sunday, when Keith Olbermann retweeted Bianca Jagger's link to a post about the accuser's supposed CIA ties -- complete with scare quotes around the word "rape" -- a narrative had clearly taken hold: Whatever Assange did, it sure wasn't rape-rape. All he did was fail to wear a rubber! And one woman who claims he assaulted her has serious credibility issues anyway. She threw a party in his honor after the fact and tried to pull down the incriminating tweets. Isn't that proof enough? The only reason the charges got traction is that, in the radical feminist utopia of Sweden under Queen Lisbeth Salander, if a woman doesn't have multiple orgasms during hetero sex, the man can be charged with rape. You didn't know?

-snipped-

OK, so maybe the charges really are for rape-rape, but still -- the woman has CIA ties! I've read that on at least a dozen blogs! Keith Olbermann tweeted it and everything! That's got to be coming from a highly credible source, right?

Actually, as far as I can tell, the only source for that claim is an August Counterpunch article by Assange fanboys (seriously, they recast him as Neo of "The Matrix") Israel Shamir and Paul Bennett. Here's the most damning evidence Shamir and Bennett have compiled against Assange's accuser:


MUCH MORE AT LINK

[FreakinDJ]

3. Very conclusive CIA ties

Who is Julian Assange’s chief accuser in Sweden? She’s a gender equity officer at Uppsula University – who chose to associate with a US funded group openly supported by a convicted terrorist and mass murderer. She just happens to have her work published by a very well funded group connected with Union Liberal Cubana – whose leader, Carlos Alberto Montaner, in turn just happened to pop up on right wing Colombian TV a few hours after the right-wing coup in Honduras. Where he joined the leader of the failed coup in Ecuador to savage Correa, the target of the coup. Montnaner also just happened to vociferously support the violent coup in Honduras, and chose to show up to sing the praises of the Honduran junta. Jean-Guy Allard, a retired Canadian journalist who now writes for Cuba’s Gramma, captured the moment

A strange pair appeared on NTN 24, the right-wing Colombian television channel aligned to the Fox Broadcasting Company the U.S. A few hours after the coup attempt in Quito, Ecuador, CIA agent Carlos Alberto Montaner, a fugitive from Cuban justice for acts of terrorism, joined with one of the leaders of the failed Ecuadorian coup, ex-Lieutenant Colonel Lucio Gutiérrez, to attack President Rafael Correa…

http://my.firedoglake.com/kirkmurphy/2010/12/04/assanges-chief-accuser-has-her-own-history-with-us-funded-anti-castro-groups-one-of-which-has-cia-ties/

[NYCGirl]

4. And I quote from my link:

Are you kidding me? That's what we're basing the "CIA ties" meme on? An article that reads like a screenplay treatment by a college freshman who's terrified of women? Actual quote: "he Matrix plays dirty and lets loose a sex bomb upon our intrepid Neo. When you can't contest the message, you smear the messenger. Sweden is tailor-made for sending a young man into a honey trap."

Look, for all I know, Assange's primary accuser does have CIA ties. Perhaps it was all a setup from the beginning. Perhaps she is lying through her teeth about the rape. Anything is possible. But in the absence of any real evidence one way or another, we're choosing to believe these guys? Or at least this guy at Firedoglake, who says he's "spent much of professional life as a psychiatrist helping women (and men) who are survivors of sexual violence" -- giving his post a shiny veneer of credibility, even though it's a pure regurgitation of Shamir and Bennett's -- but segues from there into an indictment of the accuser's post-rape behavior. She socialized with her attacker again! An expert like him can tell you that real victims never do that.

The fact is, we just don't know anything right now. Assange may be a rapist, or he may not. His accuser may be a spy or a liar or the heir to Valerie Solanas, or she might be a sexual assault victim who now also gets to enjoy having her name dragged through the mud, or all of the above. The charges against Assange may be retaliation for Cablegate or (cough) they may not.

Public evidence, as the Times noted, is scarce. So, it's heartening to see that in the absence of same, my fellow liberal bloggers are so eager to abandon any pretense of healthy skepticism and rush to discredit an alleged rape victim based on some tabloid articles and a feverish post by someone who is perhaps not the most trustworthy source. Well done, friends! What a fantastic show of research, critical thinking and, as always, respect for women.

[Name removed]

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[NYCGirl]

8. LOL!

:rofl:

And Cockburn is so very trustworthy! He never met a Democrat he didn't hate.

[Billy Burnett]

6. If you lie down with dogs ...

... you get fleas.

In Cuba she interacted with the feminist anti-Castro group Las damas de blanco (the Ladies in White). This group receives US government funds and the convicted anti-communist terrorist Luis Posada Carriles is a friend and supporter. Wikipedia quotes Hebe de Bonafini, president of the Argentine Madres de Plaza de Mayo as saying that “the so-called Ladies in White defend the terrorism of the United States.”

Aiding and abetting terrorist murderers doesn't exactly engender faith or trust in subsequent actions, especially such actions that are tainted with political retribution.

[EFerrari]

9. Can you be more reductive?

And going straight to insult doesn't make your argument.

There are plenty of feminists who have come to the obvious conclusion that this process is politically driven. Even Women Against Rape in Britain came to that conclusion.

We in fact know a great deal. We know the Swedish prosecutor threw these charges out until a political appointee intervened. We know a EU warrant was issued for purposes of investigation, which is a violation. We know that the Swedes have yet to bring a charge and yet, there is an uncharged man who is walking around with an electronic monitor based on undisclosed evidence.

Feminism is as much about justice as it is about women and it's very clear justice is not being served in this situation.

[NYCGirl]

10. That is a quote from the article I linked above. NT

[EFerrari]

12. She's appalling. n/t

[NashVegas]

25. You Quote It - You OWN It!

[FreakinDJ]

11. Thank you and Well Said EFerrari

[EFerrari]

22. It's true that all over the world, women have a hard time,

if not an impossible time, getting justice for sexual assault of all kinds. That's true.

But one injustice doesn't make another one right. Anyone who advocates for rape victims honestly knows that.

[reorg]

14. The accuser wasn't smeared

But the writer of your Salon story tries her best to smear everybody else. What Israel Shamir pointed out at Counterpunch is that she "has ties to the US-financed anti-Castro and anti-communist groups."

That is something she is apparently proud of, having written a thesis about "dissident groups" in Cuba that might turn out to become the "new elite" after a post-Castro "transition period" modelled along the lines of the transition in Eastern European and Baltic states.

http://annaardin.wordpress.com/thesis/

Here is what Ms Ardin writes about her trip to Cuba:

“In June 2006 I traveled to Cuba with the intention of staying for at least two months interviewing leaders, members and supporters of various Cuban political parties. …

One night a young man from the interior ministry came to the house where I rented my room. He told me that I had to stay home the next day because someone would come and ask me a few questions. At eight-thirty the following morning two uniformed men in a police Lada came to take me in for interrogation. They took me to Control de Extranjeros (foreigner control) and put me in a hot waiting room. Finally, after many hours, three anonymous men in civilian clothing questioned me: With whom had I spoken? Why? What did I ask them? How did I get their contacts? What had I been doing the other times I had visited Cuba? Who paid for my trip? … They also told me that with a tourist visa I was supposed to do “touristy things”, and their suggestions were: going to the beach, dancing salsa, going to the pool and visiting museums. If I did something else they would kick me out of the country. …

It had become too difficult to continue, and I did not want to put my informants at risk, so I decided to leave Cuba. Instead I went to Miami in December 2006 and continued interviewing Cubans there. Due to this forced shift of material and focus, the thesis has not turned out quite as expected, but given the limits of the material I am satisfied with the result.”

[NashVegas]

23. Rape Is Sex That Doesn't Involve Consent

Both of these women engaged in consensual intercourse with Assange.

[treestar]

7. What does it have to do with whether or not she was raped?

If her sexual history is not to be used against or for her, why should her political leanings?

[pitohui]

13. no sane person thinks she was raped

therefore she has to have some reason to make an ass of herself on the public stage

the reason is pretty obv. politics

why would this need to be explained to anyone above about age 7?

[treestar]

16. Well then the authorities in Sweden are all insane

They have some charge against him; presumably they have to prove it. Why should the accuser's political leanings or job history be used against her any more than her sexual history?

[reorg]

19. Not all of them

The accuser's political leanings, education and interests merely show who she really is - as opposed to the false and misleading labels some superficial hacks have put on her ("leftist", "feminist" - yeah, right).

The first (on-call) prosecutor who came into contact with the allegations, signed the first arrest warrant and illegally informed the tabloid press about it is married to some guy in the Ministry of Justice which is known to have cooperated with the US carrying out CIA torture flights. Strong suspicion of bias here, maybe insanity indeed. The next prosecutor, the one who was actually responsible for this case, decided one day later that there was nothing to these allegations.

Next thing, Ms Ardin hires a party-friend, the spokesperson for gender issues of his party and previously of the government. Guy has a law firm with a former Justice Minister, has ties to the US, etc. In addition to this, he is certifiably insane: made headlines calling for a boycott of the World Soccer Championship 2006 in Germany because prostitution is legal there. He found another prosecutor in some obscure place who is also a well-known "feminist" and who would risk making a complete fool out of herself to once again investigate if when the condom breaks it could be seen as a sexual offense.

That's where we are, they did not bring "charges", they are - after four months - still mulling whether or not to go to court with what they have.

[treestar]

20. They would have to prove the charges somehow

Not sure about Sweden's legal system. But now it's not just the accuser but the prosecutor and several others now suspect of forwarding these charges because they are all bad people doing all this just to hurt poor Julian.

And he certainly has no let to stand on about about government information being released illegally.

[EFerrari]

24. Leaking selected details from police reports is illegal.

It violates due process rights.

And there is no comparison between releasing information about a government and an individual. In fact, that's a favorite tactic of corrupt governments, to "leak" information that may be true or not true about individuals they find inconvenient.

[EFerrari]

21. No, Assange has not been charged. He has just been smeared. nt

[Uncle Joe]

15. Because the same question of political leanings ties to whether Assange has been given a

presumption of innocence or not by these unprecedented actions.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x32029

Naomi Wolf on Assange charges: "Sweden, Britain, and Interpol Insult Rape Victims Worldwide"

In other words: Never in twenty-three years of reporting on and supporting victims of sexual assault around the world have I ever heard of a case of a man sought by two nations, and held in solitary confinement without bail in advance of being questioned -- for any alleged rape, even the most brutal or easily proven. In terms of a case involving the kinds of ambiguities and complexities of the alleged victims' complaints -- sex that began consensually that allegedly became non-consensual when dispute arose around a condom -- please find me, anywhere in the world, another man in prison today without bail on charges of anything comparable.

Of course 'No means No', even after consent has been given, whether you are male or female; and of course condoms should always be used if agreed upon. As my fifteen-year-old would say: Duh. But for all the tens of thousands of women who have been kidnapped and raped, raped at gunpoint, gang-raped, raped with sharp objects, beaten and raped, raped as children, raped by acquaintances -- who are still awaiting the least whisper of justice -- the highly unusual reaction of Sweden and Britain to this situation is a slap in the face. It seems to send the message to women in the UK and Sweden that if you ever want anyone to take sex crime against you seriously, you had better be sure the man you accuse of wrongdoing has also happened to embarrass the most powerful government on earth.

Keep Assange in prison without bail until he is questioned, by all means, if we are suddenly in a real feminist worldwide epiphany about the seriousness of the issue of sex crime: but Interpol, Britain and Sweden must, if they are not to be guilty of hateful manipulation of a serious women's issue for cynical political purposes, imprison as well -- at once -- the hundreds of thousands of men in Britain, Sweden and around the world world who are accused in far less ambiguous terms of far graver forms of assault.

Anyone who works in supporting women who have been raped knows from this grossly disproportionate response that Britain and Sweden, surely under pressure from the US, are cynically using the serious issue of rape as a fig leaf to cover the shameful issue of mafioso-like global collusion in silencing dissent. That is not the State embracing feminism. That is the State pimping feminism.

From a thread by JackRiddler.

[treestar]

17. It's their law

Under the law of Sweden, if they make the charge, they'll have to prove it.

Naomi Wolf does not run Sweden. She probably doesn't qualify for the jury.

[Uncle Joe]

18. Did you read the article? This isn't just about Sweden, this is about the entire process including

those actions of the U.S., Britain and Interpol.

[NashVegas]

26. Oh, Well I'm Shocked, I Tell You

[bluestate10]

27. Sooooo?

That makes raping her ok?

[EFerrari]

28. Does that straw person know tap? Modern dance? Swing?