Yesterday, the news media in Australia carried a digraceful story of a high-ranking American political stooge and White House toady trying to use the Uniform Code of Military Justice to intimidate Major Michael Mori who had been appointed to defend an Australian detained at Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks..
Let's get a couple of things straight,
Firstly. ....
In my opinion, it is likely that many of the people held in Guantanomo Bay were up to no good when they were captured and the probably did not have our continued well-being as their first priority. Many of them are probably Baddies through-and-through.
It's also crystal clear that they should have been handled firmly and fairly and in strict adherence to both the letter and the spirit of the Geneva Convention. War is about victory or defeat - it's not about guaranteed employment to every weirdo, sociopath, drunk, bully, fanatic or sadist in the United States who fancies himself as an interrogator or as an "action-hero".
Secondly ....
Major Michael Mori is first and foremost a patriotic American. Never forget that. He has upheld the honour of his service. He has maintained the highest standards of the legal profession. He hasn't given 85% commitment, he hasn't given 99% commitment ..... he has given 110% and 120% commitment to his assigned duty.
David Hicks is lucky that Major Mori was assigned to defend him ..... and not to prosecute him because he would have been equally tenacious, vigorous and honourable as a Prosecutor!.
For Heaven's sake, Major Mori is a trained fighting man ..... so why all the hullabaloo when he gets up and fights vigorously to win? That's bloody ridiculous!! Australians admire a man who has the guts to "give it a go" and regular Americans admire a man with real fighting spirit too.
Washington, Farragut, Grant, Sheridan, Patton and Halsey would be proud to know that fine officers, such as Major Mori, who do not fear difficult tasks, still serve the people and the flag of the United States.
Of course there's a bit of shouting and shoving and swirling dust when free men and women speak their minds and stand up for what they believe ...... those of us who cherish liberty and impartial justice would not have it otherwise.
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So what can be done?
1. Promote Major Mori straight to full Colonel. If the United States is to survive, it must have talented leaders ..... and Major Mori has demonstrated that he has that in full neasure.
2. Kick that high-ranking boofhead who tried to intimidate Major Mori straight out into civilian life and make him work for a living. Can't recall his name; an utterly forgettable coward. What sort of a gutless oaf would hide behind all the fine print of the Uniform Code of Military Justice instead of tackling Major Mori man-to-man if anything was said that offended his delicate ears? What a wimp! What a sorry excuse for an officer! Chuck him out before he disgraces the United States further.
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Oh, by the way, we in Australia do have a regular and comprehensive legal system with roots that go back a few thousand years ....... and it is a legal system well experienced in dealing with crimes of violence, including terrorism and political assassination. It is a grievous unforgivable insult to Australia that the United States continued to hold David Hicks (apparently on nothing more than the whims of Mr Air-Guard-AWOL and three of his trans-Pacific sycophants).
He must be sent back to face OUR justice in Australia, whatever that may be.
9 comments:
Well said.
Peter Kemp said...
"Well said."
That's a big understatement Peter Kemp.
It was bloody brilliant.
excellent post... except the part about most of the detainees being baddies.... but you will discover that too in good time!
Candace
Peter Kemp, Ray an Candace;
Astonished. I expected a flurry of hate-mail from all the usual culprits .... not compliments :-) Thanks.
Yes, you are right about making assumptions without evidence. We had another Australian citizen who was in Pakistan and then was captured, "rendered", tortured and then eventually released - all without explanation.
Offering rewards for the capture of suspected enemy without any quality assurance system was always a worry. What was the guarantee that the "Enemy" for which good money was paid was not, in fact, merely a personal rival or a passer-by from another tribal group?
Rewards for leading police to a criminal are offered on rare occasions in Australia [as a last resort or where there is continuing grave danger to the public] but such offers of reward
always carry words such as ".... arrest leading to a conviction" so nobody sees a brass-razoo of the reward money until well after the criminal is convicted and maybe [I don't know] not until any appeals have been resolved; it's a system of quality assurance that does seem to work than cash-by-the-head-count.
Wonder where all that money spread so carelessly in Afghanistan did end up? Just wondering, that's all.
Musharif (maybe I am spelling his name wrong but the president of Pakistan) said in his "kiss and tell" book last year that the Pakistani government made millions of dollars selling arabs to the US. Seems it was easy work, they paid a smaller amount to the local people who turned the Arabs in and charged a larger amount to the U.S.when turning them over...
No questions asked....
Candace
Thanks Candace. Your government isn't the only one that hands good money over to foreign leaders with less-than-perfect results.
Major Mori: "an honest man and a soldier". I've got no opinion as to the guilt of innocence of Hicks but Mori maintains that a lot of the charges are just trumped up.
In yesterday's Australian there was an article about Hicks. Apparently the authorities tried to peg him with an espionage charge for spying on the US Embassy in Kabul despite the fact that it's been empty for several years!
Kind of makes Mori's case a little more plausible.
Yes. Somehow I don't think the charges against Hicks will last more than an hour after the resignation [or impeachment?] of Bush and Cheney ..... nor a minute after Howard is propelled into retirement by a worried Liberal Party members in a leadership spill.
Apparently, there is legal opinion floating around that Hicks will never be able to sue Howard, Ruddock, Downer et al for what happened to him. Maybe so .... and maybe not. Bur I wonder if that group have the assets to handle an adverse judgement against them and unsuccessful appeals? Could get very sticky in the years to come.
I don't think Hicks could be tried in Australia - as he has committed no offence nor any crime according to our laws.
He was fighting for the Government of Afghanistan as a volunteer, in a foreign country at their invitation. Americans and others were uninvited insurgents.
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