Mr Redneck, the ex-army cook, spewing forth his non-sensical poisen, once again. " the gloves are off......". Get off your computer and go back to your Playstation 2, where you cant harm anyone.

Oh! hedgehog go on learn to use playstation yourself - if possible don't rant in a jealous rage on those who can. numbat

The vitriol shown to David Hicks by some on OLO, without knowing anything of the back ground of the man, without any knowledge of what he has supposed to have done. It smells of a vigilante attitude, that comes from second class media information,Government spin and a one track mind thinking

To Mr WRE

The reason why David Hicks has not been charged for what appears to me as plain a case of treason that could be imagined, is a question that I an many other Australians are still waiting for an official answer too. And until somebody from the legal fraternity tells me how a man who has been caught fighting in an irregular armed force that is fighting against an Allied Army containing Australian troops, and who is fighting to protecting a terrorist organisation that has killed Australians, is not a traitor, then I could not care less about Hicks.

The US has no reason to allow Hicks to be released. At the very least he is an enemy combatant and as such he may be held in custody until the War on terror is over. The Taliban were only recognised as legitimate by only two governments, Pakistan (which created it ) and Yemen. The Taliban was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention and even if it had been, it’s soldiers were breaking the Convention by not wearing an internationally recognised military uniform. Hicks was not a uniform wearing soldier, and as such he was an irregular. Irregular soldiers have not, never have been, and never will be recognised as legitimate combatants covered by the Geneva Convention. The yanks could just take him out and shoot him if they wanted too and that would not be a bad idea. If one side does not honour an agreement, it can hardly expect the other side to do so.

This has historical precedence. Japan was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention and it treated Allied POW’s captured in WW2 with exemplary brutality. In response, Allied troops routinely bayoneted or shot dead tens of thousands of wounded and helpless captured Jap soldiers. We even machined gunned lifeboats and machine gunned the crews of sinking ships in the water. The over riding principle is, and always has been, that if the other side wants to play dirty, we will accommodate them.

Redneck:

Did you get your lines from Die Hard or Dirty Harry?

I am from both a proud military and legal background. As a member of the legal fraternity I can tell you Hicks hasn't been charged with anything under Australian law because primarily he hasn't been allowed access to Australian jurisdiction. It seems that you would deny him access to both military and civilian courts as well, so I can't see how you can ask for legal explanations! Your 'evidence' though seemingly impressive has obviously been compiled by your extensive viewing of Fox Sports and the news flashes in between.

I can also speak for my brother, a commissioned officer in the ADF and state categorically that the Australian military has never stooped to the levels of others- any suggestion that the ADF wanted to match Japan's brutality in WWII is an afront to those serviceman and women who survived Burma etc. If you were an 'army cook' as a previous poster as suggested, it is indeed lucky that you were not in the infantry regiments or similar.

Anyway, the point isn't what Hicks is supposed to have done, no matter what the crime, Western legal tradition insists on the right of the individual to a fair, open and TIMELY trial.

If we can do our level best to give people like Martin Bryant a proper trial, then I fail to see any justification whatsoever for the FOUR YEARS WITHOUT TRIAL that Hicks has been subjected to. No matter what he crime he is accused of, he is formally innocent until proven guilty, and should be tried in a proper court.

It is a disgrace to both the Australian and United States Governments that he has effectively been left to rot without any formal judgement, only rumor and innuendo as to what he is accused of.