As opposed to the current debacle? I don't buy it.

Me neither...he is currently in breach of a decision by the highest court in the UK, is in the UK and as such should be treated the same as anyone else in breach of such judgements.

Exactly. The Obama administration would get slammed just as hard if they extradited from Sweden.

I think Assange knows that there is truth to the sex charges and he doesn't want to face the music.

Get the SAS to dress up as Santa and his little helpers and go in and nab him then kick his arse out of the UK.

if you were the US on the 'get assange somehow' mission, would you even bother going through all the hassle of extradition in a circumstance like this when all you have to do is lean on the swedes to find him guilty of rape regardless of the merits of the actual case?

When the US leans on some other nations' judiciaries, those judiciaries can be made to bend easily enough. my guess is, when he gets to sweden, he will be found guilty, he will be put away, and there will be no moves by the US to extradite in the near future, not without some real espionage charge which doesn't seem to be around at the moment.

What is an "outside traitor" - is it something you could charge KSM for? Sounds like a useful legal definition for any global hegemon!