I had been only peripherally tracking the whole Assange story. But, when the fallback position to "storming the embassy" (i.e., preventing Assange from leaving the building) broke, it just rang a big historical bell for me.
Sau said that under International Law, the 1964 Vienna convention means domestic law does not prevail in cases as granting political asylum and “this has been respected even in the worst dictatorial moments of Latin America and Africa”.Ah, yes, indefinite confinement in an embassy, where have I heard that before?Sau downplayed the possibility that the UK breaks into the Ecuadorean embassy in London and speculated that UK will delay indefinitely Assange’s safe passage through British territory.
When the Soviet Union invaded Hungary on 4 November 1956, to restore the overthrown communist government, Cardinal Mindszenty sought Imre Nagy's advice, and was granted political asylum at the United States embassy in Budapest. Mindszenty lived there for the next 15 years, unable to leave the grounds.Bottom line, the UK, with US backing, is behaving like the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Of course, the complete amnesia about the strong resemblance between the tactics of neocon politicos and the Communists has been permanent since The End of History. I would rather call it "The End of Memory", because no one is ever reminded when our gigantic military/intelligence conglomerate takes a page from the Soviet Politburo's playbook. Meanwhile, Obama is constantly called a communist.
Come below the Orange Curtain for more.
