Today, it was revealed that the Australian, David Hicks, who has been held, in contravention of international laws and conventions, at the notorious Bush Regime prison at Guantanamo Bay for several years, may face the death penalty.
He is an Australian and if he has a case to answer for his actions, then he must face justice in Australian courts; if he has no case to answer, then he must be set free immediately ..... no ifs, uts or maybes.
The excuse trotted out by the Australian federal Attorney-General for leaving David Hicks in the hands of the Americans is that he cannot be charged under Australian law ..... and leaving it up to the imagination of the dull, the stupid and the gullible to see David Hicks blowing up country dunnies all over the place if he was released from American custody. Yeah, right; you can just see that happening, can't you.
My own feeling, and that of many others, is that if David Hicks was charged with anything at all then he could be charged under Australian laws such as the Crimes [Foreign Incursions and Recruitment] Act but if he could be so charged then decency and compassion would call for such charges to be not laid or, if laid, immediately dropped. He has already endured American politically-ordered torture .... that is punishment enough for whatever he might have done. And we have neither seen nor heard any credible evidence that he has done anything wrong except to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The ordinary American public .... and especially Republicans .... had better get it through their heads right now that if David Hicks is a terrrorist then he is OUR G*d-d*mn m*tha-f*kkin terrrorist and WE will deal with him according to OUR laws so they had better start moving very smartly to have him returned to Australia and IN GOOD HEALTH too.
The David Hicks case has shown, in absolutely crystal-clear terms, the real contempt America has for Australia. There is nothing in the long history of friendly contact between the United States and Australia that has caused such widespread grass-roots loathing for everything American here in Australia that this case has. The news media can churn out as much propaganda as they like about how Australians would be happy if David Hicks were executed; such beat-up stories and faked surveys would be no more credible than any Communist propaganda.
The Americans are either with us on the side of justice and truth ...... or they are on the other side. It's their choice.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Suki:
Maybe the facilities at Guantanamo Bay could be recycled to house the villains you mentioned.
This case has had an incredibly corrosive effect on U.S.-Australia relations and it has undermined the Australian government's credibility among Australians. Worse yet, it has been of tremendous benefit to the terrorists' cause. I suppose this is an inevitable outcome of allowing politicians, who are ignorant of war, to play toy-soldiers and tin-pot dictators (at least Pinochet, Videla and Galtieri did bother to learn something about military affairs)..
Major Mori, David Hicks' defence counsel, is doing a mighty job in trying to repair the United States' shattered reputation and restore its honour; a far better job than the whole U.S. State Department. He is welcome in Australia anytime.
UPDATE
The on-again-off-again Military Commissions are on again. David Hicks is said to be one of the first to face judgement. Given the Bush regime's shocking track-record .... I wouldn't be surprised at all that if there was an adverse result, he would be executed within minutes rather than give those pesky Australians opportunities to riot against U.S. interests and property in Australia in the hope of overturning the verdict; if he is already dead then the verdict cannot be reversed and no anti-U.S. riots would happen .... or so the thinking would go.
The show trials are going ahead.
The conviction and possible execution of David Hicks are now inevitable.
I do feel sorry for the families of American soldiers taken prisoner in future wars. Failed President G W Bush may have been long gone but his evil legacy will surely return to haunt Americans for decades to come.
Post a Comment