Asia-Pacific Features
Returning al-Qaeda soldier divides Australia
By Sid Astbury Mar 31, 2007, 7:14 GMT
Sydney - Convicted al-Qaeda soldier David Hicks returns soon to an Australia still deciding whether the first Guantanamo Bay detainee brought to justice is indeed the devil incarnate or only a high-school drop-out who experimented with religion and then fell into bad company.
Whatever the verdict on the 31-year-old former kangaroo skinner, he will only be hearing of it second-hand. Until the end of the year, when the nine-months remaining on his seven-year sentence for providing material support for a terrorist organization will have been served, Hicks will be occupying a cell in the high-security section of Adelaide's Yatala Prison.
The public debate will not be informed by any communications from Yatala. Part of the plea bargain that got Hicks out of Guantanamo was a pledge that he wouldn't communicate with the media for a year.
Hicks was taken to Guantanamo after being captured with Taliban forces in Afghanistan in December 2001. There was little sympathy for him then. In letters to his father he told of training with al-Qaeda, meeting Osama bin Laden and the glory of martyrdom.
When the former rodeo rider was putting on his first orange suit, Prime Minister John Howard had just been re-elected to a second term and indignation at the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington was at its height.
Sensing the public mood, Howard decided against passing the retrospective legislation that would allow Hicks to be repatriated to face justice at home. The dead-beat father-of-two wasn't then the poster boy of the civil rights lobby that five years of detention without trial turned him into.
But time passed, the horror of 9/11 faded, and people began feeling sorry for Hicks. Groups started agitating for his release. His case was taken up by the opposition Labor Party. There was annoyance that Britain and other countries had managed to get their Guantanamo inmates released and Howard hadn't even tried.
A few months ago three-quarters of respondents were telling opinion pollsters that Hicks should be brought home. So deep was the resentment that Howard himself urged President George W Bush to ensure Hicks was among the first to be brought to court.
To assuage the public, Howard made Bush promise that Hicks would not face the death penalty and that any prison sentence over and above time served could be completed in Australia.
When the judicial process at Guantanamo finally lurched into gear, the climate of opinion became less clement for Hicks.
Then, at his arraignment hearing last week, Hicks shocked almost everyone by declaring his guilt. It became harder to present him as just an innocent abroad.
His cheer squad was hushed by his appearance. Primed to expect a man ravaged mentally and physically by five years of brutal incarceration, Australians marvelled at a plump man who joshed with the military prosecutors and happily confessed his al-Qaeda connections.
Helping to turn public opinion against Hicks was the palpable disappointment in his guilty plea of those who had championed his cause.
'There's no way that this can be seen as a genuine guilty plea,' a grim Greens leader Bob Brown told reporters. 'It's simply a plea for release for exit from the inhuman Guantanamo Bay gulag.'
A leitmotif for the tidal turn in public opinion was Hicks' appearance. At his first outing before the military commission he played the martyr part: unkempt in prison garb and wearing plastic sandals. At his last appearance he was scrubbed clean and squeezed into business attire, his hair clipped and his answers as crisp as his suit.
'It was as though he was attending a job interview,' an Australian reporter quipped.
Howard and his ministers have careful to hide their glee at the metamorphosis. They deny they see the guilty plea as a vindication.
What looked like a political liability in an election year could yet turn into a political asset, with Howard coming across as a resolute leader and new Labor frontman Kevin Rudd seen as a weakling who pandered to his party's abiding anti-Americanism.
At the very least, the fate of the Australian Taliban is no longer a big factor in the outcome of a general election expected in November.
Hicks' shocking contrition - he apologized to his family, to Australia and to his captors, and told how he fled the Afghanistan battlefront frightened after a mere two hours of action - is likely to prompt a further revision of the Hicks image.
By the time he leaves Yatala in early 2008 he's likely to be mostly forgotten both by those who delighted in his imprisonment and those who campaigned hard for his release.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in Asia-Pacific
- 1. Chinese dissidents hail late democracy activist Fang Lizhi
- 2. China "worried" over planned North Korea rocket launch
- 3. Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi meets Karen rebels
- 4. Chinese schoolboy sells kidney to buy iPad, iPhone
- 5. Myanmar president invites Karen rebels to form party
Older Talkback
page: 1
Remember the Soviet show trials? When defendant after defendant admitted to almost anything, even when death or gulags were the inevitable consequence? Hicks has been held in Guantanamo under conditions of duress that almost anyone except the US government would call torture. For five years! Imagine what that would be like. Do you wonder why he was prepared to confess, to bring this to an end, and be able to serve the remainder of his time in an Australian civilian prison?
Well - This just goes to show how the 'Doo Gooders' in the world can get it so totally wrong. You would think that if Kicks was the Martyr that he was trying to portray himself to be initially, that he would still appear like that at this hearing. This not being the case just proves how much of a 'Plastic Taliban' Hicks is. More shame to him and his supporters. At least if he were to show remorse for what he had done that would at least have gone some way to recovering his reputation, but no - I believe that he should have had the full weight of the Justice System rained down on him. Hang Him High
I don't want this traitor in my country. He deserves the firing squad.
A kangaroo court for a kangaroo skinner.
Ya couldn't make it up!
I think the aussie should be well treated by his country.
if he murdered and you kill him like they've done with saddamn and crew
you are only being as horrorific as they were.
Alec De Blanc. - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Hicks should have never been released for his involvement with terroisom, I personally believe he should have been tried and hung in the prison he was taken to otherwise one day, this guy once free in Australia will help the terroists he already knows to stage a new act of terroisom killing hundreds of people here in Australia. What would Howard do then, try in in court and release this subhuman again???
People who have sympathy for this man obviously dont give a damn about this country of ours. He who commits treason against his fellow citizens should pay the full penalty. In this case I belive he should have been executed for his betrayal. The do gooders who support him probably do not know the first thing about the man. If they are so passionate about him why wernt they there with him in Afganistan? Hicks is an embarissment to our country and in nine months he will once again become a threat to us all. Of course he had no choice but to plead guilty do you think he was going to say he was there on a scout camp or something?
if somebody were to shoot this guy in the head , it wouldn't bother me . but at the same time , when you're faced with dork-culture or muslimiseryism , what are you gonna do ? we're all just a bunch of pawns anyway . i'm just wondering which politician is going to sell us out to the muslims and thier gangster allies , and how far . atomic weapons are going to rearrange this world in short order ; i just hope who ever wins , is a rock n roll fan.
Hicks got what he deserved, i cant believe why all these morons wasted so many tax dollars on him, aussies r real losers, get a life, u america-apeing-but-denying-the-fact lazy islanders.
Australia wanted back Hicks, and now they have him. thank God, and good riddance to bad rubbish. For once, the American taxpayers are not saddled forever with some one else's problems.
It's incredible how everyone forgets that armed struggle bought feudalism, imperialism, appartheid etc...to an end. If Hicks wanted to fight with the Taliban against Anglosaxon injustices in the world, good on him! Americans currently sponsor terrorism on three continents and they sponsored the IRA in Ireland, but nobody HANGED any IRA terrorists...because they were fighting for the causes of white people, just like the ETA terrorists in Spain.
Hicks was fighting the mentality on display on the above posts and rightly so. The Americans have done a good job of manipulating an already sick bunch of white people and this is dangerous to the world. If Iraq had to put up with Saddam Hussein it is because America sponsored him for years, until they decided he had too many weapons. Does anyone above have any brains? Ten years of war against Iran on behalf of the Americans, one million Iranian deaths. Stop using the word terrorist if you do not know what it means, just say that you don't like Muslims and that you beleive that white people can do what they want. Just say that you like killing and starving millions of innocent people..oh and have you repaid the aborigini back for taking thier land? Nah...they are not white..
Americans are the problem not the freedom fighters.
Ah..and I am white..against white oppression and ignorance!
Have a nice ignorant day, you should be proud of Hicks!
Ofcourse his not guilty, living in horrific conditions like a torture cell in Guantanamo Bay would make anyone plead to anything. And for those out there that are arguing, 'oh but his a terrorist' the US should be able to do whatever they want. Wake up, theres something called a 'rule of law' one of which is innocent till proven guilty. There were 13 year olds locked up in that hell hole for crying out loud who were simply in the wrong place in the wrong time. My argument is simply that if these people were indeed guilty of terrorism, why were they not charged first and then punished. Simply because the US wanted to play its sick torture game. This is ofcourse not the first time.
Now come on.
Hicks said what he had to do to get out of the American Gulag.
Why did the US 'court' insist that he say that he wasn't abused in the concentration camp? Why is he not allowed to talk to the media for a year?
Simply because the US does not want the truth to come out more than it already has.
And guess what? It is an election year and Howard is looking bad in the polls. Nothing happened until the polls started diving.
Australian are not stupid. This result has vindicated Hicks supporters in Australia and everyone know it.
If any of these 'John Wayne' wannabes had been through HALF of what Hicks has they'd gladly put on a baby bonnet and a diaper and say 'Goo, Goo.' for the camera, and live in a baby buggy.
The old Hicks is gone forever. The new one is a direct product of his recent environment.
Obviously, fascists are mentally defective. I rest my case.
All you 'eye for an eye' types would probably make your point better if you learned how to spell...
Treason is treason, no matter how you look at it. I don't think he should get the death penalty because serving the rest of you life with inmates who know your a traitor would be much worse. If Australian prisons are anything like U.S. prisons, then the inmate will kill him anyway.
There is no question that Hicks is a scam, deadbeat dad and a looser. He's had a lousy life, but he also does have civil rights just like everyone else.
In every legal system since Roman Law the punishment is administered AFTER the trial NOT before. Having spend five years in Guantanamo I'm surprised he had not confessed to be the cause of Global Warming, tsunami waves, Katrina etc... Its easy to call for hanging Hicks, but have all of you calling for his execution considered that it could happened to you? Mistake in paperwork, similar name, or appearance? How would you like to spend several years in Hell, what would you confess to?
Our civil rights are what the founding fathers of our country USA have established, and we must protect them for all peoples bad and good.
Don't fight for our rights and next time you are on trial your judge will be wearing a military uniform.
D.Hick is a true hero he stood up for his principles as a true muslim if you rember the case of M.Beig in England who was in a similar preidicement.The real devil reincarnated as your artical puts it is messers Howard,Blair.And the great satan himself (Bush if any one needs reminding)could provied any eviedence to convict any of the people in question.Let me remind the Australian public the three so called leaders or the devils reincarnation as you put it are prvoen liars and on the day of judgment it is they who will have to answer for mass murders they have commited.As for Mr.Hicks and i we will also be judged.The point of this artical is a man is proven innocent until provn guilty that holds true in any domain,so please you people at MSC stick to the facts,and as for the devil incarnation amongst you is not D.Hick but Howard, as you readily follow.
David Hick's plea bargain to get out of the American gulag is no different than the British Soldiers' appearances on Iranian television expressing their culpability for breaching Iranian space - they will do or say whatever is necessary to get out of a bad situation.
Sadly, to me Hick's concluding deal 'accepted' by the kangeroo court and cut by its judge down to 9 months, absolutely smells of dirty pool. Fortunately for Hicks, downunder politics forced Howard's hand to pressure Bush to this conclusion. Also fortunate for Hicks is that he's white bread, unlike his fellow detainees, who will therefore most likely remain expendable in the eyes of most of white America.
But the best thing for Bush and Howard is stated in your last paragraph:
'By the time he leaves Yatala in early 2008 he's likely to be mostly forgotten both by those who delighted in his imprisonment and those who campaigned hard for his release.'
Stephen in San Diego
The pro american nut bars are really an incarnation of Hellen Keller with out the intelligence.
The US makes the Nazi look respectable.
If anyone is stuped enough to belive that hicks or co did actually stage 9/11 then I feel such sympathy for you!
Israeli's were filmed filming the towers pre-attack and laughing and 'waiting' for the 'first' plane- they knew what was coming because they planned it with the jews in the white house to make the world hate the muslims - so that they can take over the rest of thier land with no protests!
Its funny though that some of you are still being sucked into the 'jewish owned' media- lets see where it will lead you. From the way things are going it will probably be 3rd world war- and all for the sake of Israel!
Keep shouting about hicks and co. While the 'real' terrorists continue to take over the world and creat even more war and terror!
Many Muslims are good people. But,this person is not one of them. These protoplasmic experiments which have gone bad and finally settled into the mold of people who root for Islam to win have been able to dupe the others in Australia into welcoming this Fecal Prize back into the motherly fold. Not very bright folks. Not very bright.
Usrael were the real losers from this debacle with the ridiculous Patriot Act. The total disregard for the Geneva Convention and the rule of International Law is on plain view for everyone to see.
Those who would call for a shot in the head sound like Khazars. Totally lacking in any kind of human decency.
Who are the morons who watch and cheer as the Constitution used as a toilet roll?
Hehe i would like to welcome the real aussies to Ivor, he's funny as hell, he thinks that the holocaust was BS and that Eisenhower was a Jew (and he's English but born Paki). He will do anything, say anything to try to convince you all that every thing is the Jews fault.
If you check some of the wording of previous posts you will see that many are Islamists possing as westerners. Wish you guys would come forward but we cant even get the french and germans to defend themselves, at least with Aussies I know you guys can defend yourselves.
Hicks? Who gives a rats arse, hang him or let him go free, he's not important. As an English man I wish we had stayed with the common wealth and not these cowardly EU countries, watching my own own country being sold away to these islamo scum is very saddening. Please dont follow.
My view, execute him by any means, he has committed Treason!
page: 1
Phenmetrazine Lab SuperMar 31st, 2007 - 08:08:15
ha ha ha ten thousand times. This shows again how the blind supporters of nutjobs like Hicks are running a franchise that doesn't know what's in the meat they serve. Jack in the Box atcha hot air suckers hahaha
Report this comment