US Can No Longer Build, It Can Only Hinder Others - Assange's Father
04:34 GMT, 28 October 2024
JAKARTA (Sputnik) - John Shipton, an Australian activist and the father of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, had a sit-down with Sputnik and shared his opinion on the most crucial issues of global policy, including the BRICS gradual ascension, the West-backed color revolutions, and the Ukrainian crisis.
SputnikThe US can no longer build anything itself, it can only hinder other nations, John Shipton said in an interview with Sputnik.
"The United States, for all of my life, has always been a place that takes excessive positions. You have corporations having excessive power and so on. So it's always been a place of turmoil and riches in my lifetime. I don't expect it to be any different. Maybe the new president will be able to reform the place, but I think it's a gigantic, monstrous task," Shipton said, commenting on his expectations for the upcoming US presidential election.
The activist added that after Hurricane Katrina, it became obvious to him that "the United States has lost the capacity to help itself."
"And as far as the empire and the exercise of power in the empire, it can only do negative things. So they can no longer build, they only have the capacity to impede other people's efforts to build their nations - with yellow, with color, revolutions, and all that sort of thing," he added.
Shipton emphasized that the Ukrainian government could collapse any day, stressing that things could spin out of US control.
"You know, they've got some real problems. I just saw Israel attack Iran last night. In Ukraine, the current government is teetering and will fall any day. A little strong wind blows, and they'll say, 'we surrender'," he said.
Russia and Putin Rose to Defend Assange
Shipton is grateful to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was the first world leader to speak out in defense of the journalist.
"President Putin in 2012 was the first head of state to defend Julian's interests as a publisher and a citizen. At a time when he was receiving, Julian was receiving, every smearing lie… Putin defended his interests as a publisher and a journalist. For that, I extend my gratitude to your president," Shipton said.
In June, Assange, an Australian citizen, was released from a British prison - after agreeing to a plea deal with the US - where he had been held while his extradition was pending. He was facing prosecution in the US under the Espionage Act for obtaining and disclosing classified information.
WikiLeaks was founded by Assange in 2006, but rose to prominence in 2010 when it began publishing large-scale leaks of classified government information, including from the US.
Color Revolution Attempts Underway
Shipton expects several attempts of color revolutions to take place before the end of 2024.
"We can clearly see the importance of information flow in a society. There is no doubt about this. There are examples over and over again. And I would say we will probably see before the end of the year, a couple more attempts at color revolutions," Shipton said.
Shipton also said that Australia, France, Germany and Japan are facing commercial issues - along with Finland which is "going broke" after severing ties with Russia - without their own industries. The situation was caused by the US’ policy to "institute its interests before the interests of those states", he said.
The West is sparking color revolutions across the post-Soviet countries, particularly in Kazakhstan, Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus, Shipton added.
In April, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the relations between Russia and the US, which bear influence on global security and stability, have been experiencing a deep crisis due to Washington's support for color revolutions, including in Ukraine.
New Global Center of Gravity
The "center of gravity" in the world has shifted toward BRICS; the organization is at the forefront of the world economy, demography and culture, Shipton added.
Last week, Shipton attended the BRICS summit in Kazan, where the results of Russia's chairmanship of the organization in 2024 were summed up. According to the activist, he enjoyed the trip to Kazan, and his brief acquaintance with Tatarstan and the Tatar culture was "surprisingly good and pleasant."
"I think, as for Russia and the BRICS, it was great seeing the skill with which Russia, China and India - each having very distinct and ancient cultures - used to bring those cultures together to form the BRICS, an international non-western power bloc. So, I feel the center of gravity in the world has moved towards the demographic, economic and cultural centers of the world," Shipton concluded.