Dear US Attorney-General Merrick Garland,
A new request today. It’s about Julian Assange. No, wait, it’s about America’s reputation — same as with the Mar-a-lago raid, really.
You may think I overvalue our reputation, Sir. Certainly, I think you undervalue it. It’s not that I’m worried about what other countries think of us. It’s what we think of ourselves that matters, and when we hear criticisms being murmured around the globe, we should harken to some clues.
No diplomat, other than British ones, has shown approval of the United States case against Australian journalist Julian Assange. Thousands of people around the world have organized rallies and marches to free him from impending extradition.
We want to thank Mary Maxwell for this Op-Ed. Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
I’ve been to a couple of birthday parties for Julian in front of the NH State House in Concord. A prominent legislator was in attendance. Ah, New Hampshire.
Undoubtedly you are aware of his case, Mr. Garland, given that a group of diehard free-speechers has parked their bods outside your home each weekend. I was invited to join them last winter but declined to participate as I think every person’s castle is sacred. (Or was it that I couldn’t handle the freezing weather? — either way.)
It’s regrettable if your family suffered from that modern-day tent city — but you can end their suffering with a quick flick of your BIC pen. Just drop the charges against Wikileaks journalist Assange. They do seem to conflict with the First Amendment, don’t they?
[First Amendment: “I may use my brain, as God presumably gave it to me for a purpose, and I may use my vocal cords, and my writing finger and I may share my ideas all over town type thing.”]
The criminal charges against Julian include the fact that he published information about US war crimes in Iraq. But as soon as he uploaded that to Wikileaks, the folks at The New York Times were able to copy it in full without being subjected to any charges themselves. (I’m like, Huh?) The one who did the actual leaking of documents was Chelsea Manning, and she has already done her prison time for it.
As a US citizen, I am very grateful that someone released the outrageous photos of what US Marine Charles Graner and National Guardsperson Lynndie England did at Abu Ghraib. (Feces being smeared on a prisoner’s chest comes to mind, as does our soldiers letting a prisoner be bitten by dogs.)
Perhaps it’s “better than nothing” that Graner and England were punished at courts martial — but we all know they were not the inventors of that torture. As for the higher-ups, did any of them even lose a month’s pay? If you look into it, Sir, you may find they got promotions. God help us.
I have pretty strong feelings of guilt when the US commits war crimes, as I definitely think the buck stops with me. I’m not just American, I’m America — seriously. (Weren’t you brought up that way, too?) It was I who smeared feces on the Abu Ghraib prisoner, so to speak. My doing nothing to stop it makes me complicit.
Attorney General, are you up on the jurisprudence here? I want to call to your attention the case of US Army Lt Ehren Watada. In 2006, he was charged with “missing troop movement,” i.e., not going to Iraq when ordered to. He said, in a public speech:
“To stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers can choose to stop fighting it…. Enlisting in the military does not excuse one from rational thought…. “I was only following orders” is never an excuse…. When we say [in our oath] “against all enemies foreign and domestic,” what if elected leaders became the enemy? Whose orders do we follow? The answer: the conscience that lies in each soldier.”
“What if elected leaders became the enemy?” Gosh.
Watada’s case limped along for three years. It could have been decided quickly. My guess is that it was dangled in front of soldiers to give them hope. In the end, nothing much happened.
For that matter, maybe the endless wait for an end to Julian Assange’s case (ten years) is all about, um, all about an endless wait. And he’s not even an American, he’s Australian.
I resided in Australia for much of my adult life. My friends over there say that the UK should not allow the US to snatch Assange, as he will be so badly treated in a US court. Heck, I want to see him in a courtroom in beautiful America.
You can do this, Mr. Garland. You can bring him to justice. America’s glory will be restored right smack dab then and there. You will state that free speech must prevail. Hooray! Happy days are here again! And posterity will give you the credit.
Alternatively, you could phone the UK’s Home Secretary Priti Patel and ask her to dismiss the inmate du jour from Belmarsh Prison. It is within her discretion to do that for any reason or no reason. (Remember when Home Secretary Jack Straw liberated Augusto Pinochet for no reason?)
Or Patel could just say that it will save on carbon emissions if the UK does not have to fly Assange to Washington. Or something.
Thanks a mil, Attorney General. Your mother wants you to do this.
Yours sincerely,
Mary Maxwell (currently a candidate for US House of Representatives from NH’s First District)