David Hicks - and Donald Rumsfled

As speculation swirls around the outcome of the David Hicks' guilty plea - and many rightly say Hicks would not have brought a free-will to his decision given his 5 year incarceration at Gitmo and his treatment all up - it is worth bearing in mind the words of former Defence Secretary Rumsfeld:

"Interrogations must always be planned deliberate actions to take into account the detainees' physical strengths and weaknesses". Then he went onto say, "Interrogation approaches are designed to manipulate the detainee’s emotions and weakness, to gain his willing cooperation".

The SMH reports :

"David Hicks' father Terry says the Australian government put pressure on his son to plead guilty to the charge of providing support for terrorism.

Adelaide-born Hicks could be back in Australia by the end of the year after the shock plea in front of the US military commission at Guantanamo Bay.

"The Australian government, I believe, are the ones that put the pressure on David," Terry Hicks said in an interview in Washington DC, aired on the Nine Network.

"They demonised him, they pre-judged him for five years.

"I suppose Mr Howard would be throwing his hands up with glee at the moment but as far as I'm concerned this was a way out for David regardless of whether he was guilty or innocent, we'll never ever know now."

Meanwhile, Colonel Mo Davis [the prosecutor in the Hicks "trial"] on the ABC Radio National Breakfast program this morning in answer to a question on why Hicks had to spend 5 years at Gitmo when he could have been dealt with in American's civil courts much sooner, Davis asserted that the Vietnamese had detained Americans for years on end, without trial, during the Vietnam War. So, now we equate our standards of justice and fairness to those nasty Communist people in Vietnam?

Comments

Reading the Chilcot Inquiry Report more closely

Most commentary on the Chilcot Inquiry Report of and associated with the Iraq War, has been "lifted" from the Executive Summary. The Intercept has actually gone and dug into the Report, with these revelations : "THE CHILCOT REPORT, the U.K.’s official inquiry into its participation in the Iraq War, has finally been released after seven years of investigation. Its executive summary certainly makes former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who led the British push for war, look terrible. According to the report, Blair made statements about Iraq’s nonexistent chemical, biological, and nuclear programs based on “what Mr. Blair believed” rather than the intelligence he had been given. The U.K. went to war despite the fact that “diplomatic options had not been exhausted.” Blair was warned by British intelligence that terrorism would “increase in the event of war, reflecting intensified anti-US/anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim world, including among Muslim communities in the

Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

There is no gain-saying that Robert Fisk, fiercely independent and feisty to boot, is the veteran journalist and author covering the Middle East. Who doesn't he know or hasn't he met over the years in reporting from Beirut - where he lives? In his latest op-ed piece for The Independent he lays out his predictions for the Middle East for 2013. Read the piece in full, here - well worthwhile - but an extract... "Never make predictions in the Middle East. My crystal ball broke long ago. But predicting the region has an honourable pedigree. “An Arab movement, newly-risen, is looming in the distance,” a French traveller to the Gulf and Baghdad wrote in 1883, “and a race hitherto downtrodden will presently claim its due place in the destinies of Islam.” A year earlier, a British diplomat in Jeddah confided that “it is within my knowledge... that the idea of freedom does at present agitate some minds even in Mecca...” So let’s say this for 2013: the “Arab Awakening” (the t

An unpalatable truth!

Quinoa has for the last years been the "new" food on the block for foodies. Known for its health properties, foodies the world over have taken to it. Many restaurants have added it to their menu. But, as this piece " Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? " from The Guardian so clearly details, the cost to Bolivians and Peruvians - from where quinoa hails - has been substantial. "Not long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain you could only buy in wholefood shops. We struggled to pronounce it (it's keen-wa, not qui-no-a), yet it was feted by food lovers as a novel addition to the familiar ranks of couscous and rice. Dieticians clucked over quinoa approvingly because it ticked the low-fat box and fitted in with government healthy eating advice to "base your meals on starchy foods". Adventurous eaters liked its slightly bitter taste and the little white curls that formed around the grains. Vegans embraced quinoa as

Mahler's Prodigal Son

Search This Blog