Hicks, Howard and Rogue USA - a view from America

Writing in the Portland Indy Media Centre, an American contributor nails the Howard hide to the barn wall of political expediency. How Howard's assault on Rudd's judgement does'nt stick in his throat is beyond me, but he and his closest cohort are capable of egregiously twisted rhetoric when their political hide is at stake:

"Anyone familiar with the criminal tactics of thoroughly corrupt State Institutions would not be surprised to learn of the plea bargain offered Guantanamo Bay detainee, David Hicks. After five years of torture and various other forms of physical and psychological abuse, the U.S. has offered a deal that would see Hicks released from Guantanamo but not necessarily from continued incarceration.

The U.S. faces numerous legal actions resulting from its treatment of detainees in various illegal detention centres around the world. However, a guilty plea from any detainee would exonerate the torturers and justify the illegal detention. Future actions against the USA for illegal detention, torture and a host of other breaches of international law and human rights violations would be greatly compromised by any guilty plea - a fact not lost on all parties involved in the Hicks case.

The Hicks case has become a political issue in Australia; public opinion has clearly turned against the government. The injustice of five years detention without trial is having a profound effect on the Australian electorate; a fact not lost on the politically astute Prime Minister. Howard acts only when the political cost of his actions (inaction in the Hicks case) threatens to jeopardise his future tenure in government. Howard is the lowest form of political animal as the Hicks case clearly proves - where was Howard from the first day of Hicks' illegal incarceration?

Only when Howard himself suffers negative consequences does he act -- a most despicable characteristic for anyone in high office. We would remind John Howard that relative to the agony and horror suffered by a young Australian over the past five years few Australians would sympathise with a derelict Prime Minister's political discomfort!

In the event that Hicks understandably succumbs to pressure and accepts a guilty plea bargain that would see him back in Australia, no Australian should ever forget the callous disregard the Howard government displayed toward a citizen in trouble. Every attempt to politically capitalise on the long overdue Hicks release by Howard should be viewed with the contempt it deserves.

John Howard is clearly a moral bankrupt and loathsome human being; he not only deserves to be removed from government but also deserves to be investigated for complicity in war and other crimes against humanity."

I am growing in faith that a majority of Aussie voters finally see the true nature of this political project...We don't like to admit we got it wrong, but we don't like our values and principles trashed either.