Saipan is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Territory of the United States in the western Pacific. Saipan was liberated by the US Marines after the Battle of Saipan in July 1945, thus exposing Japan to direct attacks of the USAF.
Never in my wildest dreams could I have concatenated Saipan with the freedom of Julian Assange.
Today, after 12 years of persecution, which included 7 years of diplomatic immunity in the Ecuadorean embassy in central London and 5 years in Britian’s maximum security Belmarsh prison pending extradition to the United States, Julian Assange was declared a free man in return for a guilty plea on the island of Saipan.
Below is a snap I took of the Ecuadorean Embassy in central London when I was just a dozen yards or so from Julian during his sequestration. I discreetly waited for the uniformed Bobby permanently stationed outside the main entrance to walk out of view while waiting to arrest Julian should he step out into the street.
How we have changed. For publishing the “Pentagon Papers” revealing the misinformation of the US DOD about the Vietnam War back in the 60s, Daniel Elsberg became a national hero. Free speech in the West is now just about extinct.