What a nonsensical article. We all know the Taliban manual for behaviour as a prisoner requires allegation of torture.

Hicks has followed the manual slavishly, and I would believe him about the as much as I would believe Bob Brown, another pathological liar.

When Hicks was captured he had the right to be shot on the spot, or locked up until the war was over. No doubt he convinced his captors that he had information worth obtaining, so was made a prisoner.

All the supposed rights he had are nonsense. He was released prior to the end of the war because of lying lefty pressure on the government.

I notice lately that there are allegations that he was in uniform when captured. The Taliban were not an army, and did not have a uniform. They are terrorists, and the Geneva Convention does not apply to them.

All the soft treatment given to the undeserving Hicks, has been obtained by misrepresentation and lies, which you, Jason, now wish to support.

Quite a despicable article.

What David Hicks wants most is for the Australian government "to formally recognize that the 2006 Military Commissions Act was unfair" and designed simply to obtain guilty pleas.

You did well after all with this article Jason Leopold. Thank You.

I am deeply unhappy with how Australian Authorities handle these issues. Deeply sorry for David, for the way he was treated.

I am historically aware of Americas role in world, be it the CIA, or other intellengent services. The history speaks for itself. Much of it despicable.

As David Hicks said, "it's the dreams that are the worst."

"I see myself having to begin the long process of imprisonment again accompanied with vivid feelings of hopelessness and no knowledge of the future or how long it will last,"

Where Daivid Hicks said. "The other dreams consist of gruesome medical experimentations too horrible to describe. Losing my personality, my identity, memories and self is much more frightening to me than any physical harm. It is these dreams that are the most common and terrifying."

That "torture not only permanently scars the torture victim, but it also leaves its mark on everyone who comes in contact with that person."

Like you Jason Leopold, I find it hard to write about this story, I am thankful that David is working with the land, has a partner today. As a person before and after this experience, I feel I know and understand a lot about him as a person.

I have a lot of respect for David Hicks, and his father Mr Hicks.

http://www.miacat.com/

What is torture, is it going without sleep, not getting any gravey with your chips.

Torture used to be real, like being stretched on a rack, or having your fingernails pulled out.
The modern day torture is a cop-out.

For those showing some consideration and kindness for what David Hicks has endured over time, I also thank you. A good, accurate and truthful article, Jason.

Having had involvement in the successful agitation that was the disgraceful Mamdouh Hahib case, the subject of Australia’s compliance to the evil that was US rendition has never been far from my thoughts, such matters well chronicled by decent Australians like Richard Neville and other like-minded people. Success by way of a financial compensation came to Mamdouh based on what he had seen in Egypt, which confirmed without doubt the Australian Government’s compliance to the inhumane treatment one of our citizens, Australia now able to be whistled up at the beck and call of the world’s #1 terrorist, the United States.

David Hicks may have shown some errors in judgement in his life, but he was never a terrorist. Those Australians who care to look deeper than the surface have realised that in the days of Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks, the US was paying serious dollars for anyone that was scooped up from the streets of Afghanistan, the more the merrier. They had a target. These millions, paid to the tribal chiefs of the Northern Alliance, have now been channelled and invested in expanding what is now the largest drug industry in the world, 93% of world production at the latest count, all supported by the US military. A fact!

So, in this environment, our Australian soldiers walk the Afghanistan roads and sometimes die, doing the bidding of the servile Australian government as they curry favour with the US, yet again.

John Howard should go to his grave for allowing this to happen to Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks, his gullible connivance against the interests of Australians with the dishonoured Machiavellian, Cheney. A policy that Howard promoted, is now carried on by the feckless Prime Minister, Gillard, who surrenders to anything that will further her tenuous hold on power in this country.
She has even turned her military funeral attendances into a media event.

David Hicks deserves Australia’s sympathy and best wishes, always.

I must admit that I am stunned by some of these comments and the absence of compassion and humanity. I realize this was a lengthy story. But I'd like to know if anyone took the time to read what the Guantanamo guards Albert Melise and Brandon Neely had to say about Guantanamo and how the treatment of David Hicks and other detainees affected them for so many years? What say you about that?

I've spent a decade covering the Bush administration's torture and rendition program and during that time I have debunked many of the major claims that government has made about the threat posed by detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo as well as their intelligence value. It's shocking to me to see people here lap up government propaganda about the "war on terror" and continue to peddle and disseminate lies that have long been debunked.

For a primer, I would encourage everyone to read this before opining about what they think they know: http://www.truth-out.org/wilkerson-cheney-bush-aware-guantamamo-detainees-were-innocent58446

Whatever your feeling is about David Hicks there is absolutely nothing that can justify the torture of another human being. That some here feel there is justification is a sad commentary about how low we have sunk as a society.

Dear Jason Leopold,

There is nothing that can justify torturing another human being or any sensate creature. There is also nothing that can justify being in an army and trying to kill other humans who you personally have nothing against.

David Hicks tried to join the Australian army. Turned down he joined another army. He wanted to participate in war of some kind.

I see no justification for what happened to him. I feel great sympathy for him. He has suffered. He has or had the Anzac spirit. He just applied it outside of the Anzac framework.