There have been calls from US politicians, pundits and public alike for Assange to be "dealt with." This includes the US government trying to figure out what crime to charge him with and TV pundits demanding that he be "illegally assassinated".
Given the previous record of the US, and what we know about wikileaks, it would be very surprising if the US wasn't doing everything its power to get their hands on him.
As I've posted before, UE, if you had bothered to actually READ the thread, there is no indication that any entity in the US is doing anything beyond keeping an eye on the situation. The US Department of Justice is only investigating Wikileaks in connection with other cases they're working on, and they have given no indication that they would like to prosecute Assange. And of note is the fact that, while "US politicians, pundits, and public alike" have given calls for Assange to be "dealt with", the US is highly aware of its standing in the international community, given the mistakes of the past several years, and very likely does not want to actively pursue some sort of witch hunt against Assange. IANAL, but right now the best we could charge Assange with is being an accessory to a crime. The actual perpetrator of the whole Wikileaks fiasco is Bradley Manning. HE violated US and military law by providing classified information to a person neither cleared for nor authorized to view the information. All Assange did was receive the documentation.
And while there may be politicians calling for his head, those politicians still have to answer to the SCOTUS as to exactly what they would like to charge him with. The POTUS has given no indication that he wishes to pursue Assange, and statements from the White House have basically said that Assange's wrongdoings were in another country and are therefore none of our business. Pundits and the public have little or no control over the US Department of Justice either. I would also note that there is by no means a majority of Americans who wish to see Assange prosecuted, unless you can provide proof of such. One cannot point to the screams of a few individuals and extrapolate that the entirety of a country feels the same as they do.
Of note in that regard: A 2010 poll given by the Washington Times asking whether the US should prosecute Assange would seem to indicate that the majority of the US does NOT in fact feel Assange should be prosecuted. See
here. 50% feel he is providing a necessary public service, while only 37% feel he should be prosecuted. 13% would like to reserve judgment until any investigation is completed. I cannot find a single poll that indicates a majority of Americans feel he should be charged with anything.
Perhaps what you are failing to realize, UE, is that the US CAN in fact learn from its mistakes, and while we cannot silence the calls of a few blowhards (that whole Free Speech thing) who may believe Assange should be shot at the stake, we can thankfully ignore them in favor of approaching this issue in the manner it should be approached. I wouldn't deny that the US would certainly like to prosecute SOMEBODY in the Wikileaks case, but they are at least waiting for EVIDENCE before rushing in. The benefit of having a well-educated, calm, rational man at the helm, in my opinion; the US is trying to show that we are trying to avoid knee-jerk reactions in favor of actually learning the truth, whatever it may be. And right now, the truth is we have no legitimate reason to charge Assange with anything. His only concerns with the law right now are in Sweden, not the US, despite his posturing otherwise.
