Dear Joe (Loudmouth),

I was referring to Craig Thomson and runner's
attack on Labor.

As for David Hicks - that matter has already been debated.
Go back and read my posts.

<Hicks was consistently painted not only as a "terrorist" but a "well-trained terrorist" and consistently referred to by the coportate press and by Murdoch columnists as "terrorism supporter>

Goodness gracious! What was Hicks' self description in his letters and the theme of his 'holiday' snaps, pray tell?

<a Royal Commission and a full judicial review into the David Hicks case>

It wouldn't be the leftists if they weren't demanding an inquiry or Royal Commission into something. -Although they were not so keen to have a review into the fraudulent use of members' subs in the Health Services Union expenses affair.

otb,

You should avoid repeating smears against individuals
who were merely deemed suspect.

That is nothing new of course.
Governments and journalists have done that all the time.
However in the case of Mr Hicks.
Mr Hicks has been found not guilty of the charges.
And his claims of innocence have now been validated.

As for your reference (again - yawn) to "Leftists"
and the claim
that they have a thing for Royal Commissions?
Perhaps you should check with the Liberal Party records
prior to making that claim.

That is an unfortunate
example of a "deluded" mindset. And by deluded I mean
the psychological definition. I am referring to your
"rigid system of beliefs" with which you are pre-occupied
and which you firmly hold, despite the logical absurdity of
your beliefs and a lack of supporting evidence. You wish for
a reality that does not exist - rather than the reality that
actually does exist. And another aspect of this tendency is
a puzzling irrationalism - which has a history of
hostility to evidence and reason.

BTW: Royal Commissions appointed by the governments of Australia
have existed since 1902 and the range of subject matter
varies tremendously. It is not the domain of any particular
political leaning.

Foxy

The fact Monis hand some mental issues does not negate his terrorist intentions. If a man is committing a terrorist act, holding people against their will and threatening to blow them up, in the name of ISIL, he is terrorist.

Why do you keep stating that because Monis had problems he cannot be classified as a terrorist. Anyone would have to be crazy to want to follow ISIL, or believe that life under Sharia Law is a better option than the freedom of living in the West. Does that mean all terrorists are slightly nuts and therefore not really Islamic extremists?

Hicks was caught red handed in the battlefield. Perhaps his treatment in prison was excessive, but he brought it on himself. Surely he must have realised you don't want to get captured by the enemy. He's lucky they didn't just shoot him and if they had, no one would be wringing hands over his mistreatment.

Dear ConservativeHippie,

Regarding David Hicks? You have quite a few facts wrong.

David Hicks did not fight against
Australian or US troops. There were no Coalition forces on
the ground in Kunduz at the time David Hicks was there. David
Hicks did not fire one shot outside of military training in
Afghanistan. This was acknowledged by the US. David Hicks
did not at any point engage foreign soldiers in combat.

David Hicks was not caught fighting with al-Qaeda. He was
taken at a taxi stand whilst trying to come back home
to Australia by the Northern Alliance (Afghan Forces). He was
then sold to the US Military for approx. US $1,000.

The infamous photographs of David Hicks with an unloaded RPG
were taken in Albania when he was training with the Kosovo
Liberation Army under NATO.

David Hicks did not undertake any "terrorist
training." In fact, several independent sources, including
members of the Australian Military have confirmed that the
training David Hicks received was basic and standard military
training, poor in quality to that received by our Australian
troops.

The Australian Government, PM John Howard, Attorney-General
Philip Ruddock and Foreign Affairs Minister Downer were
warned by a panel of experts from Australia that the
David Hicks Case should not have been allowed to proceed.

There is documentary evidence that in 2007 former PM
John Howard asked the US to manage the Hicks case. Colonel
Morris David, the former Chief Prosecutor of Military
Commissions told US journalist Jason Leopold in 2011
that he had concerns about the Bush Administration charging
Hicks.

"There was "no doubt in my mind," David added, "that this issue
was an accommodation to help Howard by making the David
Hicks Case go away (in an election year)."

David Hicks spent nearly six years in Guantanamo where he
was abused and tortured. His treatment at the hands of our
government and at the hands of the US was not justified.

Dear ConservativeHippie,

Regarding Man Haron Monis - the man that even the press
describes as "the lone-gunman" (and not a "terrorist).

Terrorism by definition is violence carried out for
a cause in order to create fear and terror and cause
governments into meeting demands. The motivations are
attached to an ideologically, political or social issue.

The Monis case is different. His past history indicates
that he was a man desperate for attention. His motives
were egotistical - not ideological.
He was a self-proclaimed cleric,
though he had no formal qualifications. He had a police
record. He did not belong to any terrorist organisation.
He was simply an unstable wannabe driven by a desire for
notoriety.