Never mind the outrageous technicalities of
David Hicks’ legal limbo or John Howard’s fierce determination to be W’s most
unquestioning ally: there’s another reason to bring David Hicks back to Australia.

The following story was told to me by a Federal type who has been
officially briefed on Hicks and his former fellow Guantanamo inmate,
Mamdouh Habib. The story teller was no fan of Habib and would not care
much if he remained in some sort of
detention, but Hicks was different.

Hicks obviously speaks some of the language of
the people with whom he’s lived, trained and fired weapons, but many of his
comrades had little or no English when they arrived at Guantanamo. So they begged Hicks for knowledge of suitably
dark and vicious curses they could hurl at their infidel American jailers. What
could possibly be the greatest insult to the Sons of Satan?

The guards were subsequently met with an
enraged chorus from the “worst of the worst”, their faces twisted in hate as
they shouted and screamed: “Gidday mate, howareyergoin’! “

Hicks is a larrikin and a fool, perhaps a
dangerous fool, certainly a danger to himself. But he hasn’t broken any laws
and is clearly very Australian. He should be brought home.