Wikileaks, and blackmail

Julian Assange, the slimeball that is currently disseminating stolen US intelligence/diplomatic information via offshore internet servers is insisting that if he is molested/arrested/killed, a huge encrypted document dump along with the encryption password will be released that will be very damaging to not only the US government but to BofA and BP as well. But here is the problem with capitulating to his demands, he has already shown he cannot be trusted, so all we'd be doing is delaying (if that) the inevitable. He will release the data, whether we give into his demands or not. So why not arrest him, or just shoot him, and be done with it? It will be sending a message to whomever is supervising his "document bomb" that they had better never release the data, or if they do they had better hope we never find out who they are or they'll end up dead too. it will also serve as a warning to anyone else who gets a wild hair to do something similar. When you operate on the level of a nation state, there ARE no rules.