Vindicated, I don't think so, maybe Georgies Puppet should spend 5 years in the Guantanamo Torture Hole , and see if he would not confess to anything, to get out with his sanity in tact. Have we forgotten Abu Grahib so quickly? I don't think we have, if we are people looking for Justice to Prevail

By the way, my comment was not posted on the stories comment section, so I assume they just accept what is palatable to their way of thinking.

PM 'vindicated' by Hicks verdict

THE Howard Government has seized on David Hicks' guilty plea as vindication for leaving the terrorist supporter imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for five years.

.While the Labor Party remained uncharacteristically mute, Government backbenchers yesterday cheered "hear, hear" when Mr Howard told Federal Parliament Hicks had pleaded guilty to supporting terrorist organisation al-Qaeda.

It was a sign of the political strain Mr Howard has been under as voters and his own backbench have repeatedly made it clear they were unhappy with the length of time it took to bring Hicks to justice.

Mr Howard was pulled out of a regular meeting with MPs yesterday to be told Hicks had pleaded guilty. He immediately returned to the party room to inform them of the news.

A few hours later, the Prime Minister told Parliament he was "concerned" at the length of time that had passed before Hicks was brought before a trial.

"However, the Government does welcome the progress towards resolution of Hicks's case," he said.

On the opposite side of the chamber, the Labor Party didn't utter a word. Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said publicly as recently as Monday Hicks could not expect a fair trial.

In a surprise move last night, shadow attorney-general Joe Ludwig said Labor would not comment on the case "until the Military Commission finalises their proceedings".

Justice Minister David Johnston said the plea vindicated the Government's hard line on Hicks.

"I am just saying there's a stark contrast between him being a theological tourist and pleading guilty to aiding terrorists," Senator Johnston said. "When you plead guilty, as an old courtroom sparrer like myself knows, when you plead guilty you put yourself in the dock and you don't go home that night."

Over the past year, Government backbenchers have repeatedly raised concerns about Hicks's continuing detention in the US military camp in Cuba since he was imprisoned there more than five years ago.

Opinion polls also showed voters thought Hicks wasn't being given a fair go.

Concerned Hicks would become a major election issue, Mr Howard put pressure on the US to speed up his case. The Government will now hope Hicks can come home before the election.
Mr Downer told Adelaide ABC Radio he was "glad" Hicks's case had "reached a conclusion".

"I think there are all sorts of different views in the community," Mr Downer said.

Democrats foreign affairs spokeswoman Natasha Stott Despoja said Hicks's guilty plea was a "desperate act by a desperate man" to get released. Greens leader Bob Brown agreed."This seems the only way David Hicks can escape the hell hole of Guantanamo Bay," Senator Stott Despoja said.

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Hicks moved to Camp Echo as deal wording debated

New to Job, Gates Argued for Closing Guantánamo

WASHINGTON, March 22 — In his first weeks as defense secretary, Robert M. Gates repeatedly argued that the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, had become so tainted abroad that legal proceedings at Guantánamo would be viewed as illegitimate, according to senior administration officials. He told President Bush and others that it should be shut down as quickly as possible.

Mr. Gates’s appeal was an effort to turn Mr. Bush’s publicly stated desire to close Guantánamo into a specific plan for action, the officials said. In particular, Mr. Gates urged that trials of terrorism suspects be moved to the United States, both to make them more credible and because Guantánamo’s continued existence hampered the broader war effort, administration officials said.

Mr. Gates’s arguments were rejected after Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and some other government lawyers expressed strong objections to moving detainees to the United States, a stance that was backed by the office of Vice President Dick Cheney, administration officials said.

LinkHere