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Why Obama to Grace Lilliput

Why choose Sweden when one's afraid of losing more face with Russia?

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DUCKPOND (Rixstep) — Barack Obama canceled his state visit to Moscow because Russia granted asylum to Edward Snowden and he doesn't want to lose even more face. So much is obvious, despite the embarrassing spin by the White House.

But why choose Sweden as a last minute replacement? Why choose a replacement at all? State visits normally take at least one year to plan. Carl Bildt might be dancing the happy dance and denying any connection to the aborted Russian talks, but the question remains: why Sweden?

Swedish investigative journalist Dick Sundevall thinks he has the answer.

Dick Sundevall, editor in chief of Para§raf magazine, has been working with criminal and judicial cases for over thirty years, and is one of the few journalists in the duckpond who's challenged the murky behaviour of judicial system.

Why Obama to Grace Lilliput

A few years ago I was standing by the lift in the Hotel Beijing on Tiananmen Square. I looked around and I saw a huge map of the world on a wall in the lobby. The map had China right in the middle with all the other countries spread around. And in the upper left hand corner was Scandinavia. The map gave me a bit of perspective on the way things really are.

Sweden is a small country with no real role in world politics. We made a difference when Olof Palme was our prime minister, whether you liked him or not. But we haven't made any difference since. Of course there are people who think Sweden can do no wrong, but they'll have to admit their mistake sooner or later. There are good reasons no other countries in the world have bizarre legislation quite like Sweden.

So why should Barack Obama, the world's most powerful politician, decide in all haste to visit Sweden? The only other time something like this has happened is when a POTUS came by in conjunction with a top level EU meeting. But then it wasn't an official state visit.

I can see but one reason: Obama wants to show Russia - and everyone else - what happens when you refuse to turn over whistleblowers. And in that context, Swedes represent the shining example of compliance with the US in their treatment of Julian Assange.

What with the Swedish judicial system categorically refusing to do what they've done so many times before - namely travel to foreign countries to conduct interrogations - Julian Assange remains where he is.

Sweden represents a shining example of how one should behave towards the US. And therefore this hastily unplanned visit to Lilliput at the same time the state visit to Russia, over one year in the making, is canceled. Obama is showing everyone the rule that he wishes to impose.

When I or anyone else writes something like this, we get attacked by Swedish fanboys of the US. They're just as much fanboys as Soviet communists once were of their government. But this time, when you attack me in the comments and when you accuse others of being mad conspiracy theorists, give us instead a reasonable alternative explanation for Obama's visit to Lilliput.