David Hicks the political pawn – Toying with the bug collection.
When a man who even the prosecutor’s agree never fired a shot in anger is charged with attempted murder, then I guess we can only imagine the lovely staff of Guantamo must have been playing tiddly winks over hot chocolate with David Hicks these last 5 years.
I’m saddened by the brown nosing of this Australian Howard government (and the red-neck silent public which conveniently looks the other way) which would rather see such a person imprisoned for life than admit David Hicks was a token Australian used as a pawn to help the Australian government justify its support of the US government’s most incompetent leader in US history.
Sure, David Hicks is probably as guilty of supporting ‘the wrong side’ as a large percentage of militant Muslims around the world but that does not equate to ‘attempted murder’ if no shot was ever fired by him.
But these leaders aren’t the bug pinned to the bug collection and David Hick’s is. The public toying which the US government and our own sycophant leader does with that bug is its own version of terrorism and one they proudly flaunt before the world, telling us they are ‘the good guys’.
When Hitler lead the German public to either nod to or look away from Nazism (and hence condone it), we all said, not us, we could never be like that. Yet in any other form, when it suits us enough, we so easily allow injustices as long as we convince ourselves we are more righteous, more moral, more innocent and we don’t care to look too close because otherwise we’d have to speak out.
Thank you for saying what many are saying in Australia now and it is the truth. It has been sad and disappointing for an aussie like myself to see our government persist with such a policy. David Hicks has been held for over five years without trial and the proposed military court is, without doubt, a kangaroo court where there cannot be justice. Rules of evidence alone will allow hearsay evidence and evidence obtained under torture where his defence lawyers will not be able to cross examine or understand fully where and how evidence was obtained. It is a debasement of both US and Australian legal standards.
This morning on the news I see that Hicks US army lawyer Major Michael Mori is being threatened with being charged under the US code of military justice. What a way to silence an excellent man who as I see it has done his absolute best to defend his appointed client! This is a shameful tactic and, while he has been somewhat outspoken, it is part of his job representing a client held in solitary confinement for two years and who has endured mistreatment and probably torture from the US army (no doubt under instruction from the CIA). My own government’s inaction on this makes us a party to it. I have more confidence in your own Supreme Court and Major Mori than my own government.
In a court case which commenced in Australia recently, where the Howard government is being charged with having an obligation to ensure fair treatment of an aussie overseas (specifically, David Hicks), our government is arguing it has no such obligation! I find this amazing and I am certain that it would be a foreign concept to most Americans.
I am not defending Hicks per se but his rights to a fair trial, reasonable and humane treatment and fair representation before any properly constituted court.
I am ashamed of our government and any pressure you can apply can only help.
Tom Parkhouse
61 439 446646
tom.parkhouse@mac.com