Julian Assange is an Australian citizen and award-winning journalist. The US government intends to prosecute Julian under US espionage laws for his award-winning journalism. The Australian government has abandoned Assange to appease Washington, which seeks to apply US laws against anyone anywhere in the world. This exercise in extraterritorial jurisdiction just reeks of imperial hubris.
This attitude on the part of US rulers is emblematic of their ‘rulers-based order’, in which they see themselves as rulers of the whole world. They make the rules, they don’t need to heed them. Hence they routinely violate international law with impunity, disregard multilateral conventions and exhibit contempt for the rights of others. Their foreign policy is best described as belligerent exceptionalism.
The US regime aspires to full spectrum dominance, but its real weakness is exposed by the vicious, vindictive methods it uses to silence critics. If the US felt secure on the world stage, it wouldn’t fear a free press, or kidnap and torture a journalist in an attempt to prove its might and conceal its crimes.
A nation’s hard power is its ability to prevail militarily and win wars, soft power is its ability to prevail morally and win approval. The Taliban broke America’s hard power and Assange has demolished its soft power.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
