Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Sep 26th 2005, 2:46 am
#61
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Originally Posted by sloake
As unpopular as this may be, but the Taliban were protecting their country from an invading army... whether or not you like the Taliban and what they stood for, Afghanistan was invaded...
Therefore people who fit back are Prisoners of War and should be treated as such..
Therefore people who fit back are Prisoners of War and should be treated as such..
Sep 26th 2005, 10:13 am
#62
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Originally Posted by renth
Make that 1/2 for Aus - remember Mamdou Habib?
Sep 26th 2005, 10:36 am
#63
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Originally Posted by fugly
yep I agree m8. taliban were protectin their country and i have no probs with that. this guy Hicks decides to help the taliban, have no prob with that either. the prob is, when he gets caught he then expects either the Aussies or UK to defend him..when he was fightin against them
As to there being no rights for mercenaries, who is to say UK and Australian soldiers serving in their armies in a war with no UK sanction aren't mercenaries too?
Hicks left school in year 10. People more clever than him have been followers of other lost causes without suffering loss of support by his country.
Why is it going to take as long as a year to process his application for citizenship? And if he gets it, as he seems entitled to, and Blair stnands up for him as Howard hasn't, where will the government's policy to get 900,000 Australian PRs to become citizens go?
Sep 26th 2005, 10:40 am
#64
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
[QUOTE=OzTennis]
Why don't you start a movement to have David Hicks as the tax reforming, first President of the Islamic Republic of Australia? He might have to renounce his British citizenship of convenience to be eligible for the position though and he'll have to come over to Canberra from Guantanamo Bay for his investiture.
OzTennis
What kind of question is this?
OK - I think David Hicks is a low life scum too. I have not mentioned this before because is is not relevant to the point I was making (that the AG should do as much as the BG to ensure the trial is fair).
Why would you think I want to start an Islamic Republic in Australia? My religious beliefs have nothing to do with the fact that I feel trials should be fair. I think the way women are treated in Muslim society is dreadful and I do not support their beliefs
Originally Posted by jwatsonoz
Why don't you start a movement to have David Hicks as the tax reforming, first President of the Islamic Republic of Australia? He might have to renounce his British citizenship of convenience to be eligible for the position though and he'll have to come over to Canberra from Guantanamo Bay for his investiture.
OzTennis
OK - I think David Hicks is a low life scum too. I have not mentioned this before because is is not relevant to the point I was making (that the AG should do as much as the BG to ensure the trial is fair).
Why would you think I want to start an Islamic Republic in Australia? My religious beliefs have nothing to do with the fact that I feel trials should be fair. I think the way women are treated in Muslim society is dreadful and I do not support their beliefs
Sep 26th 2005, 11:48 am
#65
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Sep 26th 2005, 2:12 pm
#66
Joined: Aug 2003
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Originally Posted by cresta57
Don't very often disagree with you BP but on this matter I do.
Hicks was/is an Australian citizen the fact he travelled to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban makes him a mercenary and as such he is not covered by the Geneva convention. Mercenaries usually face the death penalty if caught and these foreign fighters whatever their nationality could all have been executed years ago, the U.S has kept them in Guantanamo Bay so that they may be persuaded/ tortured to tell all they know about the Taliban /Al Queda links to the current wave of terrorism.
Had Hicks been caught bombing the London Underground or the Australian Embassy in the Philippines sympathy for him would be far removed from what it is now.
I agree the yanks have handled it badly and yes they have actively funded terrorism for years Noraid the Sandinista, poor old Ollie North took the fall for that one, even the tunnel networks in the Afghan mountains were part financed by the C.I.A. in the 1980's
The US policies stink like a rotten skunk we can agree on that one
Hicks was/is an Australian citizen the fact he travelled to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban makes him a mercenary and as such he is not covered by the Geneva convention. Mercenaries usually face the death penalty if caught and these foreign fighters whatever their nationality could all have been executed years ago, the U.S has kept them in Guantanamo Bay so that they may be persuaded/ tortured to tell all they know about the Taliban /Al Queda links to the current wave of terrorism.
Had Hicks been caught bombing the London Underground or the Australian Embassy in the Philippines sympathy for him would be far removed from what it is now.
I agree the yanks have handled it badly and yes they have actively funded terrorism for years Noraid the Sandinista, poor old Ollie North took the fall for that one, even the tunnel networks in the Afghan mountains were part financed by the C.I.A. in the 1980's
The US policies stink like a rotten skunk we can agree on that one
The argument on whether he is a mercenary or not is a matter of opinion.
From the following definition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary
a) is specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict;(b) does, in fact, take a direct part in the hostilities;(c) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a Party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that Party;(d) is neither a national of a Party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict;(e) is not a member of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict; and(f) has not been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.
I would say he does not meet that definition because I doubt the Taliban paid much and on point a was he recruited or did he offer his services. I am sure lawyers have far more to say on the subject.
Something else of interest from that wiki is the the following on contractors in Iraq
The situation during the Occupation of Iraq 2003 – shows how difficult it is to define what a mercenary is. While the United States governed the country, any U.S. citizen who worked as an armed guard could not be called a mercenary because they were a national of a Party to the conflict (APGC77 Art 47.d). With the handover of power to the interim Iraqi government it could be argued that unless they declare that they are a resident in Iraq i.e. a resident of territory controlled by a Party to the conflict (APGC77 Art 47.d), they are now mercenaries. If no trial of the people accused of being mercenaries takes place, then the allegations tend to evaporate in a spiral of accusations, denials and counter-accusations. It should be noted that Coalition soldiers in Iraq who are supporting the interim Iraqi government are not mercenaries, because either they are part of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict or they have been sent by a State which is not a Party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces (APGC77 Art 47.f)
Sep 26th 2005, 4:24 pm
#67
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Clarification
[QUOTE=jwatsonoz]
What kind of question is this?
OK - I think David Hicks is a low life scum too. I have not mentioned this before because is is not relevant to the point I was making (that the AG should do as much as the BG to ensure the trial is fair).
Why would you think I want to start an Islamic Republic in Australia? My religious beliefs have nothing to do with the fact that I feel trials should be fair. I think the way women are sometimes treated in Muslim society is dreadful and I do not support their beliefs
[QUOTE=jwatsonoz]
Originally Posted by OzTennis
What kind of question is this?
OK - I think David Hicks is a low life scum too. I have not mentioned this before because is is not relevant to the point I was making (that the AG should do as much as the BG to ensure the trial is fair).
Why would you think I want to start an Islamic Republic in Australia? My religious beliefs have nothing to do with the fact that I feel trials should be fair. I think the way women are sometimes treated in Muslim society is dreadful and I do not support their beliefs
Sep 26th 2005, 8:05 pm
#68
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
[QUOTE=jwatsonoz]
What kind of question is this?
OK - I think David Hicks is a low life scum too. I have not mentioned this before because is is not relevant to the point I was making (that the AG should do as much as the BG to ensure the trial is fair).
Why would you think I want to start an Islamic Republic in Australia? My religious beliefs have nothing to do with the fact that I feel trials should be fair. I think the way women are treated in Muslim society is dreadful and I do not support their beliefs
Twas not a question, it was a joke - I was trying to solve your tax and republican gripes by reference to Hicks.
OzTennis
Originally Posted by OzTennis
What kind of question is this?
OK - I think David Hicks is a low life scum too. I have not mentioned this before because is is not relevant to the point I was making (that the AG should do as much as the BG to ensure the trial is fair).
Why would you think I want to start an Islamic Republic in Australia? My religious beliefs have nothing to do with the fact that I feel trials should be fair. I think the way women are treated in Muslim society is dreadful and I do not support their beliefs
OzTennis
Dec 12th 2005, 10:03 pm
#69
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Well looks like he is going to get his citizenship according to the breaking news on BBC
Dec 12th 2005, 10:42 pm
#70
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Originally Posted by Amazulu
I've been doing a bit of research on this terrorist pr*ck Hicks:
He fought in Kosovo with the mussies there,
He fought in Kashmir,
He joined the taliban in Afghanistan in 2001,
He received al-Qaeda training there,
He fired on US forces.
He fought in Kosovo with the mussies there,
He fought in Kashmir,
He joined the taliban in Afghanistan in 2001,
He received al-Qaeda training there,
He fired on US forces.
Dec 13th 2005, 2:13 am
#71
Just Joined
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Originally Posted by NedKelly
He will do well in England then. If he gets there the UK taxpayer will give him a free house, free food, free health care, spending money, a legal aid lawyer to sue the British Government for not giving him a passport sooner and causing him stress, a free psychologist to get him over the trauma, probably be offered a book contract as well, etc. etc..
The Labour government in the UK welcomes anyone wanting to come over here. Whereas it normally takes 5 years for law abiding folk to acquire British citizenship there is special dispensation and immediate citizenship for foreign mercenaries who have been caught trying to kill British, Australian and American soldiers.........we have loads of them here, all living off the generous social benefits donated by British taxpayers.
Dec 13th 2005, 2:23 am
#72
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Originally Posted by seang
Well looks like he is going to get his citizenship according to the breaking news on BBC
Dec 13th 2005, 2:28 am
#73
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Location: Adelaide, South Australia
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Originally Posted by Amazulu
How do you know they are not guilty?.
I've been doing a bit of research on this terrorist pr*ck Hicks:
He fought in Kosovo with the mussies there,
He fought in Kashmir,
He joined the taliban in Afghanistan in 2001,
He received al-Qaeda training there,
He fired on US forces.
I've been doing a bit of research on this terrorist pr*ck Hicks:
He fought in Kosovo with the mussies there,
He fought in Kashmir,
He joined the taliban in Afghanistan in 2001,
He received al-Qaeda training there,
He fired on US forces.
Originally Posted by Wikipedia
avid Hicks was born in Adelaide, South Australia. Described by his father Terry Hicks as "adventurous", he spent time working on rural properties in the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia.
In 1999, Hicks travelled to Albania (leaving behind a failed relationship and two children [1]), where he joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a paramilitary organisation of ethnic Albanian Muslims fighting against Serbian forces in the Kosovo War, and served with them for two months.
But the conflict in Kosovo was almost over by the time he arrived and he saw no fighting.
After his return to Australia, Hicks converted to Islam and began to study Arabic.
[...]
It is not alleged by the U.S. that Hicks engaged in any actual acts of terrorism, nor that he killed any U.S. or Coalition soldier while engaged in fighting at Konduz.
[...]
In November 2005, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation programme Four Corners broadcast for the first time a transcript of an interview with Hicks, conducted by the Australian Federal Police in 2002. [2].
In this interview Hicks acknowledged that he had trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, learning guerilla tactics and urban warfare. He also acknowledged that he had met Osama bin Laden. He claimed to have disapproved of the September 11 attacks but to have been unable to leave Afghanistan.
He denied engaging in any actual fighting against U.S. or allied forces.
In 1999, Hicks travelled to Albania (leaving behind a failed relationship and two children [1]), where he joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a paramilitary organisation of ethnic Albanian Muslims fighting against Serbian forces in the Kosovo War, and served with them for two months.
But the conflict in Kosovo was almost over by the time he arrived and he saw no fighting.
After his return to Australia, Hicks converted to Islam and began to study Arabic.
[...]
It is not alleged by the U.S. that Hicks engaged in any actual acts of terrorism, nor that he killed any U.S. or Coalition soldier while engaged in fighting at Konduz.
[...]
In November 2005, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation programme Four Corners broadcast for the first time a transcript of an interview with Hicks, conducted by the Australian Federal Police in 2002. [2].
In this interview Hicks acknowledged that he had trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, learning guerilla tactics and urban warfare. He also acknowledged that he had met Osama bin Laden. He claimed to have disapproved of the September 11 attacks but to have been unable to leave Afghanistan.
He denied engaging in any actual fighting against U.S. or allied forces.
Dec 13th 2005, 10:03 am
#74
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Dec 13th 2005, 10:12 am
#75
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Re: Hicks: British Citizenship has more clout?
Originally Posted by chew
He has to pledge the required citizenship oath yet.
