David Hicks leaves prison today

[Garpal Gumnut]

He's served his time and should be allowed get on with his life.

Lets hope he now shrinks into the relative anonymity of history and is a lesson for others contemplating similar behaviour.

gg

 

[jackson8]

He's served his time and should be allowed get on with his life.

Lets hope he now shrinks into the relative anonymity of history and is a lesson for others contemplating similar behaviour.

gg

think is going to be a rough road ahead for him, could be a few people out there who may hold bit of a grudge against him. has been given the reputation of being a terrorist and likely that will stay with him for the rest of his life

you know what they say " if **** gets thrown at you some of it is going to stick" or something like that
whether his exploits are true or not or just blown out of proportion by the usa and media
dont think he could do much harm here if that ever was his intent
i live in adelaide so will keep ear out for any gossip and i am sure there will be plenty of it till people find something else to distract there attention

 

[Nyden]

think is going to be a rough road ahead for him, could be a few people out there who may hold bit of a grudge against him. has been given the reputation of being a terrorist and likely that will stay with him for the rest of his life

you know what they say " if **** gets thrown at you some of it is going to stick" or something like that
whether his exploits are true or not or just blown out of proportion by the usa and media
dont think he could do much harm here if that ever was his intent
i live in adelaide so will keep ear out for any gossip and i am sure there will be plenty of it till people find something else to distract there attention

It may take many years, but he will find a normal life. It just may take until he ages / his appearance changes enough not to be recognised, is all.

Everyone, no matter how wicked, deserves a second chance if they're willing to really change.

I wish him well, so long as he doesn't get up to more naughty things

 

[2020hindsight]

he's no doubt about to have his first beer in 6 years
I still reckon he'd make an interesting drinking companion.

 

[Rocket man]

Good he's now a free man.. no thanks to Johnny Howard who left him in the care of the Americans for 5 years without trial while other world leaders got their citizens out to face trial much quicker

dont approve of David's actions but deserved much fairer trial and treatment

 

[agro]

I still can't see why this man is being treated as a celebrity especially when he was fighting against coalition forces.

history repeats itself.

 

[stargazer]

Hi

Nyden

Everyone, no matter how wicked, deserves a second chance if they're willing to really change

Sorry Nyden cannot agree with you on that satement. Some dispicible acts should not be forgiven.

cheers
SG

 

[doctorj]

Nothing like trial-by-media.

 

[adobee]

Hi

Nyden


Sorry Nyden cannot agree with you on that satement. Some dispicible acts should not be forgiven.

cheers
SG

I too think some acts dont get a second chance...

however not in this case.. if he has served his time then he is free to move on.. we all have to live by the rules..

 

[Nyden]

Hi

Nyden


Sorry Nyden cannot agree with you on that satement. Some dispicible acts should not be forgiven.

cheers
SG

But, if someone can change; become a new person after a grand realization or the likes, why not?

If this world is all there is, if there is no afterlife - taking away somebodies entire life as punishment (an eye for an eye; yet another contradicting religious belief...the lord offers forgiveness to all, but sends 'em to hell? Hmpf)

I know all too well, more than most I'm sure - that hatred, & lack of forgiveness keeps you trapped in pain, fear, & even more hatred.

Despite what the media likes to portray; the world is anything but black & white. What makes one person a murderer? Are they just differently wired chemically in their brains (nature), or was this a result of their bad upbringing (nurture)?

In either case, it is not their fault that they are unstable. Obviously though, when one is dangerous others, & unwilling to submit to help, mandatory help should be provided under lock & key.

Should a man be locked away for his entire life for catching his cheating wife in bed with another man, and making the mistake of killing them in a blind rage? Obviously that isn't stable behaviour, but who benefits from him being locked away? He needs help, treatment. Mandatory, of course! In an institution, but being locked in a prison cell doesn't fix anything. Doesn't bring anyone back, doesn't help him, all it does is feed the desire for revenge.

We've been brought up in this society that needs revenge, & justice - which is wrong.

Why do you think Osama Bin Laden does what he does? Did he suddenly wake up one morning in his adulthood & decide he wants to destroy the world? Or was he raised with delusions, or did certain events in his life lead to his hatred?


We as a society tend to be more forgiving to someone who kills out of what we deem to be justice, or revenge (ie killing a rapist), but that act in itself is purely evidential of what emotions can lead to...& why these criminals do what they do. That rapist may have been under similar immense emotional pain - ie childhood molestation. (I'm not excusing anything, by all means - as I said, they need help, & if they can't be helped, well then ; help under lock & key!)



Can't be bothered reading it all? Here's the gist of it! Criminals need help, not prison cells. It's religious nonsensical garbage that a person can be evil, they can not. Only damaged.

 

[Whiskers]

My main curiosity about Hicks is why the gag order preventing him from talking about his period in Afganistan and US detention. I think those terrorists over there die for their beliefs, don't they?

If he was a terrorist risk would you release him on the condition that he not discuss anything? If he was a hard core mercenary or terrorist or war criminal I would be far more concerned with what he does... and get him convicted and spend as much time in jail as possible.

On face value it would certainly seem that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whether he was a threat to allied forces as a soldier or terrorist or committed any war crimes is something we may never know, because of the US military so called court order preventing him from speaking.

I'm wondering whether the US military has more to hide and fear of criminal (and political) consequences than Hicks does.

 

[arminius]

it takes a wise person to recognise what you stated nyden. there is a cause for all actions...most dont care about that.

he did the crime, (whatever it was?)
he done his time

good luck to you d hicks.

hope he gives his story to the abc, and please not 60 mins/todaytonight/aca.

 

[Julia]

Whether he was a threat to allied forces as a soldier or terrorist or committed any war crimes is something we may never know, because of the US military so called court order preventing him from speaking.

So are you saying that if he does eventually "tell his story" you will necessarily believe what he says?
He's hardly likely to say "well now, I was devoted to Osama bin laden - that's why I spent time training in various terrorist camps - and believed in terror towards the West, Australia included" is he???

Doctorj: "trial by media"??
I'm only aware of the coverage by the ABC but, if anything, it was somewhat sympathetic to him (as usual with their left bias) and essentially concluded that he was a fairly simple, misguided individual. I don't know, any more than anyone else, but would probably agree with that.

Doubt very much that he represents any sort of threat to us or anyone else.
Hopefully he will simply fade into obscurity.

The one person in this whole sorry saga for whom I have much respect is his father. He has, throughout what must have been a terrible ordeal for him, been calm and reasonable, standing by his son without any sense of hysteria or blame. My heart goes out to him and I hope he's now able to return to some sort of relatively normal existence.

 

[jackson8]

it takes a wise person to recognise what you stated nyden. there is a cause for all actions...most dont care about that.

he did the crime, (whatever it was?)
he done his time

good luck to you d hicks.

hope he gives his story to the abc, and please not 60 mins/todaytonight/aca.

in my own personal opinion
really his only crime was to get involved with an organisation which are fighting for what ....they beleive in ....... even though he is not part of that culture nor is it his heritage

nobody in their right mind in australia would beleive in or support terrorism and i definetly dont whether it be al quade or the clu clux clan

in some of these countrys re iraq, afganistan other world powers would have us beleive that any form of resistance to invading forces is an act of terror. just look at iraq invaded for what?
iraq is not the only country that has been ruled by a ruthless dictator there are many others . where are the nato forces ousting them out

its all conjecture and for most of us we will never really know or fully understand how the super powers work or know to what ends they plan

 

[Whiskers]

So are you saying that if he does eventually "tell his story" you will necessarily believe what he says?
He's hardly likely to say "well now, I was devoted to Osama bin laden - that's why I spent time training in various terrorist camps - and believed in terror towards the West, Australia included" is he???

Your right Julia, he's hardly likely to admit anything like that even if it were true.

Ideally I would have liked to have seen a public (not military) trial to see what both sides had to say in an orderly enviornment.

I think this whole thing is more about the inner workings of the American CIA. We tend to forget that in the murky cloud of trial by media that the US was playing and then Hicks' lawyer played catch-up and went tit for tat until they gaged the whole thing, it was the CIA and the Bush administration pulling the strings and changing the rules in determination to release what they wanted into the media.

I'm curious to hear from him and his lawyers what really happened from his perspective, mainly in Guantanamo Bay and see how the other side responds and see what good investigative journalists come up with, seeing as we aren't having a trial. I'm initially interested in his treatment by the CIA interigators, but who knows what else there is to find?

The thing that bugs me is he is obviously not a serious threat to anyone, otherwise they wouldn't have let him out under any circumstances. Having decided that and let him out albeit with a gag order that as I understand they can re-arrest him if he breaches, they are obviously far more concerned about what he can say about them.

Maybe after the US presidential elections assuming the Democrats win, we might start to see something come out anyway.

 

[explod]

in my own personal opinion
really his only crime was to get involved with an organisation which are fighting for what ....they beleive in ....... even though he is not part of that culture nor is it his heritage

nobody in their right mind in australia would beleive in or support terrorism and i definetly dont whether it be al quade or the clu clux clan

in some of these countrys re iraq, afganistan other world powers would have us beleive that any form of resistance to invading forces is an act of terror. just look at iraq invaded for what?
iraq is not the only country that has been ruled by a ruthless dictator there are many others . where are the nato forces ousting them out

its all conjecture and for most of us we will never really know or fully understand how the super powers work or know to what ends they plan

Good post, you are putting your finger near the pulse. (Withour checking dates) During the cold war the Soviet Union tried to pummel Aphganistan and the USA et al. continued since. (and related countries in the region) Why? for the gas and oil. What has it done ? not allowed the residents of those areas to live normal lives for two generations. If you want to do a bit of objective checking (Google) you will find Bin Laden and his ilk have been trying to stick up for these people. With no financial resources (compared to USSR and USA) they have had to use primitive bombs on thier backs. If a dog is treated with hate it becomes a killer. Do it to intelligent families for two generations and they become terrorists, pure and simple.

I am fed up with a community that does not think, (exceptions here) we follow the simplistic lines for our own comfort and are swayed by the crap fed out by our politicians via the idiot box.

Perhaps David Hicks was a fair thinker as many others at that age over history have been and have proved to be ahead of the pack and changed the world. May be wrong but he has done his time and we should look think and try to see outside the box before writing everything off. IMHO

 

[robert toms]

He made the mistake of being influenced by the Muslim God, instead of our God of Mammon.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

He made the mistake of being influenced by the Muslim God, instead of our God of Mammon.

Don't despair, from some news reports today he's found Mammon again.

gg

 

[moXJO]

He did his time, and will eventually collect a book deal and interview fees once the gag is off. Good luck to him. Never agreed with what he did but looks like he lived the fantasy of a boys own adventure of guns, shooting and armies. Not only that but he survived without being maimed or killed. What the US did was wrong but probably saved him from a bullet in the head and got him back to Aus where thoughts of war are the last thing on his mind. Not only that but he now stands to profit from his ordeal.

Yeah I know guantanamo torture blah blah; at least he gets a second chance at life...

 

[numbercruncher]

Folks at the Courier mail had this to say .... Give the impression they dont like him much ...

CONVICTED terrorism supporter David Hicks was in hiding last night after smugly walking from prison without apologising for joining the ranks of the Taliban in the war in Afghanistan.

A defiant Hicks – dressed in a green polo shirt, blue jeans and black sports shoes – left South Australia's Yatala prison yesterday morning with his head held high and mouth tightly clenched.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22984072-952,00.html