The left is just as unable to appreciate how a large number of people feel about Hicks as they were with the Tampa. As an Australian, perhaps the best thing to do with Hicks would be to bring him before a kangaroo court, with Judge Lynch presiding. If that is unplatable, he could follow the tradition of Breaker Morant and be processed under rule 303.

I couldn't make such sense of Nick's article, probably because he threw me when he described Malcolm Fraser as an "eminent and well respected Australian". That's not the man I remember as Prime Minister, and I feel sure it's not the same man whom the lefties said of: "give Fraser the razor".

I am sure "Bomber" Beazley would jump at the idea if he could travel to Cuba on a Navy vessel and get to fly on an Air Force plane. Unfortunately I can't see Howard offering the services of the Defence Forces to help this mission of mercy. Thats the price you pay for being Leader of the Opposition (sic) instead of PM - you dont get to play with the toys.

Nic,

We all know now that Beazley and Labor knew about the kids overboard and the Howard/Reith lockout of media when it was taking place. They baulked, they stalled, and they said nothing lest they slip back into “conviction politics”.

I doubt very much that Beazley and Labor [who are more scared of their own party's history of conviction politics than they are of Howard's regime] - would come out swinging over David Hicks.

Beazley regularly confuses political pragmatism as a 'politic of conviction'. Its not that he does not care about issues like Hicks that clearly requires a conviction, he just doesn't know how to go about expressing it strategically. When faced with a fight he's give lots of flowery commentary about a fight he will knowingly not engage in. Basically, he's got no mongrel in him, nothing that even resembles the ticker his old Dad was known for. He was obviously the ‘runt’ (yes hard to imagine) of the Beazley litter. Lots of eloquent barking at the moon but no bloody bite. It’s sad but true.

I have just posted (rather late – apologies) to the Online Opinion Forum on Tony Smith’s piece, “The Hicks case is becoming a constitutional crisis”. Interested readers might like to look at it.

The Hicks case is becoming very serious – I agree with Tony Smith and Nick Gruen. Would that Labor could see it that way. Our neo-cons are now fighting rather desperately to keep their fingers in the dike on this – just look at Gerard Henderson, Plerdsus and Numbat ( on the Smith thread). I think it is important for liberals to try to keep their arguments cool and focussed on due legal process that should be every Australian’s right. We are not about burning witches here, I hope.

Nick what a good idea.

I fist wrote to the Washington Post at Christmas three years ago complaining "Hey Hick's is an Aussie!" I followed through with arguments about defending democracy, rule of law, Geneva conventions, ANZUS agreements, blah, blah blah..
I have been writing ever since that its in the U.S.'s interest also to give Hicks a fair trial.

The current arrangements wont, cannot and should not appease no one!