Political Frenzy

Australian David Hicks, aka Abu Muslim al-Austraili, has just been slated for trial after five years in Guantanamo Bay. Most recently Mister Hicks has been accusing the United States of torturing and abusing him. He is currently seeking British citizenship, citing his mother’s British citizenry to help his case. His hope is that if he becomes a British national the UK will free him.

Hicks became a soldier of fortune in the Kosovo War after a sordid resume of kangaroo skinning, car stealing, shark fishing, and meat-packing. After returning to Australia from his short and unsuccessful stint in Serbia, he converted to Islam. In order to capitalize on his recent foray into combat and his conversion to Islam, he went to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir where he trained with Lashkar-e-Toiba, the eastern ally of al-Qaeda. There he was recruited by al-Qaida and, according to handwritten statements by his peers there, became a favorite student of the terrorist leaders. When his camp was visited by Osama Bin Laden, Hicks reportedly asked Bin Laden about the lack of English in training materials. In response, Hicks was prompted to translate the Arabic to English, which he did.

Later, Hicks would return to Kashmir and fight alongside Pakistani forces against India’s military in the ongoing conflict. However, once Lashkar-e-Toiba was denounced by the Pakistani government as a terrorist organization - in spite of popular opinion, which heavily supported them - Hicks and his compatriots broke down and began infighting.

Once news of the September 11th attacks reached Hicks, he armed himself with an AK-47 automatic rifle and grenades, and headed to Afghanistan. There he joined al-Qaeda forces against the Northern Alliance, the Afghani group supported by the United States. His involvement in the civil war would be short, however, as a warlord captured him and presented him to the Northern Alliance, who then offered him up to the United States.

Hicks’ story is a sordid and bizarre epic tragedy. Not a stupid man, Hicks has no sense of identity and shows little ability to keep himself grounded. Even his attempt at finding a foundation for himself in a religion led him to a life of violence, a sign of a seriously disturbed individual.

But it is not that his story is so outrageous nor that it is unique; this reporter believes that his story is not all too different from most at Guantanamo Bay. It is the color of his skin that has captured media attention. If this man had been another Middle Easterner, a “towel-head” in most bigoted racist eyes, no one would have printed a word of him.

Unpopular Australian Prime Minister John Howard has tried to jump ship from his former chumminess with the Bush White House, and demand the speedy trial of David Hicks. He reportedly pestered Vice President Dick Cheney during his Sydney visit, and has constantly brought up the issue in the media.

The surging popularity of the Labor Party in Australia has led the nation on an anti-war tangent, and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has been railing the Australian government to pull out of the middle east. The apprehension of David Hicks, and Australian national, by US Forces, has become a hot-button issue in both countries.

How should this go forward? How should this be handled?

No differently than if he were from any other nation. David Hicks is not special. He is just another Muslim. And the fact that he happens to be white is no reason to exempt him from any punishment, nor give him more than any other prisoner. Because no matter what faith you are, God should never care what color you are. And isn’t justice blind?

News, Middle East, Australia, Kevin Rudd, John Howard, Australian Labor Party, David Hicks, Dick Cheney, Islam, Serbia, Kosovo, al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Toiba, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Kashmir, India, Osama Bin Laden, Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan