It's the epitome of an avoidance mechanism; it substitutes in people's minds a non-existent problematic, which they can be more comfortable thinking about and acting upon, for the actual problem and decision they face.
A principal target of this campaign by those in the UK is, of course, Jeremy Corbyn and his left Labourites. Corbyn, who may become Prime Minister and have the real power to stop Assange's extradition, came out of the gate, on April 11th, with a very strong and clear statement:: "The extradition of Julian Assange to the US for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government."
This statement was reinforced by being embedded in a tweet that includes a clip of the Collateral Murder video, in which his shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbot, reminds us that, in that incident, the US "killed 18 civilians and two Reuters journalists" and that "Julian Assange is not being pursued to protect US National Security. He is being pursued because he has exposed wrongdoing by US administrations and their military forces."
The extradition of Julian Assange to the US for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should be opposed by the British government. pic.twitter.com/CxTUrOfkHt
-Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 11, 2019
For the many partners of US imperialism scattered across the spectrum of British politics, this kind of strong, simple, and direct refusal of the US's extradition order--especially by a man and woman who may form a government--cannot be allowed to stand. On the other hand, it so powerfully echoes the disgust so many Britons feel about US imperialism that it makes it hard for the ostensibly leftist politicians and commentators to come out and say directly, "We must not oppose the US extradition."
So, a "left" reason must be conjured up to steer Corbyn and Abbot away from their clear and explicit rejection of the US extradition request and into that murkier discourse where concerns about actual US extradition disappear, and "no extradition to the US" is replaced with "extradition to Sweden." 'Cause nobody wants to be soft on sex crimes.
And the pressure on Jeremy Corbyn has worked. He now says Julian Assange "must answer" sexual-assault allegations if Sweden decides to re-open their investigation.
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