Thinker 2

"Thanks for the links Deep Blue; they speak for themselves don't they."

The mixed opinions of the man are as understandable as to the amount of corruption in todays world, and I'll bet.....because for its sticky situation concerning the war..etc....Nothing will happen in relation to the law. If freedom of speech is suppressed.....that will conclude that Democracy is really just an under-cover Communist smoke-screen. If humans keep heading down the path of greed.......then the word humanity will be a word that has no meaning. This$$$$$$$$$$$$now means more than human life........and its getting to the point that were willing to sacrifice the planets life supports systems for it as well.

Which ever way the world see's this guy.......he has by all realities.......put balance the back in its fair place.......before the human greedy.....and is still out of control. WALL STREET! Eg.

Not to dope in.....could have worse repercussion than maybe any of us can understand.

I smell waaaaar 3.0

Just a thought.

BLUE

I had not intended to post further comments here, however ...

What is of concern are those 'discerning' David Hicks as a hero ,,,

Hicks tried to get into the Australian army - was rejected on psychological grounds; he then went to fight in the Balkans; was in Afghanistan; finally imprisoned, rightly or wrongly (many have been not only imprisoned, but executed when innocent). At what stage does this imbue him with hero status? If anyone should be called a hero, it was his father who fought so hard for him.

Apparent is David Hicks' interest in the artifacts of war. If he had not been rejected by the Australian army, Hicks would surely have been a veteran of Iraq and currently fighting in Afghanistan.

As there is so much debate about Hicks, this is a case where the public should be informed as to the results of the psychological test he undertook for the Army. However, those who applaud Wikileaks, will be the same who deny public access to Hicks' records.
Am I not right.

I did not agree with the war in Iraq, and I believe that the issue of Bin Laden could have been resolved through diplomatic channels.

A politican stated that the war in Afghanistan was 'frightening'. Indeed, any sensible person would see any conflict anywhere as 'frightening'. As for images of war, these are always bloody and terrible, life is lost. No images can present the entire horror ... the horror assailing all senses. What did people expect?

True, Blue at the very least we are probably witnessing a pivotal moment in modern history.
Could go either way.

I heard a guy on talkback say today, that if the U.S. get their hands on Assange that for him, it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back in terms of his faith in the system and belief in democracy and particularly the U.S leadership.

You never know Blue, the U.S. itself might be a better place, after all the dust settles, a place more worthy of our admiration. One can only dream. Assange it seems and whistle blowers the world over do dream the big dreams. Good on them because it's obvious that it is time that someone did, Just so the rest of us can sleep easy at night.

Danielle it is true I agree that the facts and David Hicks are not clear.
But I also mentioned the forgotten man Mandouh Habib. An Australian citizen who went on a business trip and ended up in Guantanemo Bay was presumably treated poorly even tortured whilst incarcerated and arrived back in Australia eventually exonerated of any wrongdoing.

This same M.Habib. has attempted to get compensation himself for the crimes committed against him through the Australian legal system and so far has not had any success.

What your opinion on his position?.

And are you proposing that it is better that we view embedded journalism about war,
rather than witness verbatim realtime footage/dialogue for ourselves in order that we see things
as they actually are?.

Thinker 2

"You never know Blue, the U.S. itself might be a better place, after all the dust settles, a place more worthy of our admiration.

Well I will always say "a good dose of balance can sometimes bring the prospective back to its glory days.

Dont think I hate the US or anything.......but just of late.....they have dropped the ball more than once this decade and I do question some of their motives.

BLUE

Thinker,

You wish to see real footage of war. OK. As I stated, these images do not present the whole horror. Many servicemen/women arrive home traumatized by what they have seen and experienced... and the message conveyed by some of the public is that they are murderers.

I believe that M. Habib should be compensated.

While our democratic system of law is perhaps not the best system, it remains the best system there is; but our laws do not necessarily mean 'justice'. In the past, under our system of law, innocent people have been executed.

I think many understimate the good will of the US. Yes, the ball has been dropped more than once this decade. However many outsiders may criticise its actions, there are many, many more within the US who criticise themselves more robustly. Problems arise when new, previously unchallenged issues are confronted. Experience brings about change.

Perhaps not enough people in the US avail themselves of the ballot box. Many people see compulsory voting an anethama. A Britisher once admitted the he and his family never voted, "what's the point ... won't change anything" then complained bitterly about certain conditions. How many families are like this. At least with compulsory voting, each person - even if they chose to vote informally - has to take momentary pause to consider the outcome.