news came out this morning that this man is free ... all due to a technical point of law...

here you have an australian who converted to islam...gives himself a muslim name...
joined a known terrorist organisation.... trained in afghan and helped trained afghan terrorists... and CAUGHT during military combat (because his muslim brothers said he is not a true muslim and sold him for $5,000 to the americans)... and he admitted to all the above

now this man is staying in Sydney... taunting our way of life... enjoying social benefits paid by your tax and mine

now he is writing an autobiography which australians will buy in droves and clamor for it to be institutionalize in our library

sigh

and all ABC broadcast this morning is "Will the australian govt apologise to Hicks?"

how broken can our system be?

If we're not the laughing stock of the civilized world, gee we must be close.

Dear Platypus,

David Hicks was cleared of all charges by an
American Military Court.

As for the terrorist and the law?

All Australians are equal under the law.

This means that nobody should be treated differently
from anybody else because of their race, ethnicity,
or country of origin, because of their age, gender, marital
status, or disability, or because of their political
or religious beliefs.

Government agencies and
independent courts are required to treat everyone fairly.
The authorities will decide what happens to this man.

cont'd ...

Ooops -

Well I goofed well and truly and is
my face red.

On re-reading the opening post - I've
only just realised that you were referring
only to David Hicks all along. I had gone
on the assumption that you were referring to
two different people. One - David Hicks,
the other - some terrorist.
I now realise that you were speaking only about
David Hicks.

Whatever we may think about the guilt or innocence
of the man - the fact remains - he's paid his
dues - and was found not guilty by an American
Military Court - and is now living in Sydney
and earning a living by whatever mean he can.

Why can't we leave it at that?

Ex-Pm John Howard most likely has the public perception right, remembering that the public are not so easily fooled and Hicks certainly wasn't there for a holiday,

<Former prime minister John Howard said Mr Hicks was not owed an apology by any government.

“The US verdict is about the legal process in that country,” said Mr Howard, who was prime minster when Mr Hicks was sent to Guantanamo Bay.

“Nothing alters the fact that by his own admission, Hicks trained with al-Qaida, met Osama bin Laden on several occasions - describing him as a brother.

“He revelled in jihad.

“He is not owned an apology by any Australian government.”>

http://tinyurl.com/pctk53o

L'il Willie Shorten and the Greens are highly sympathetic to Hicks. Maybe they would like to apologise for their respective parties, and kick in some dollars for him out of members' subs. That is if they are serious in their belief and are not just playing politics.

There are a few facts that are being ignored.

As The Australian newspaper has pointed out -

"...while there is no question that Mr Hicks had
been in Afghanistan and trained with Islamic
groups - that was not a crime at that time
under International Law, American Law, or
Australian Law. And for that Mr Hicks served
five years in Guantanamo Bay. He committed no
crime, no terrorist act, and broke no law."

The man only pleaded guilty as part of an agreement
to get him out of Guantaanamo and home to
Australia. Even the Australian Government has
admitted that Mr Hicks committed no crime.

It surely is time to move on and let the man and
his family live in peace.