At first, reading this autobiography felt like I was reading a work of fiction; I couldn't understand how human beings could be degraded in such a manner. The events surrounding David Hicks has shown that the moral panic regarding the "war on terror" was a strategy used to keep fear alive in order to justify indefinite detention without habeas corpus, to make it look like something was being done about terrorism. The prisoners of Guantanamo were described as the most dangerous men on Earth, deemed by former Secretary of Defense as "determined killers" and the "worst of the worst". However, the majority of these men weren't even apprehended by US forces but turned over for bounty by guerrilla groups such as the Northern Alliance. Less than 1 per cent were actually charged with any crimes.



Not every man is perfect, and David has admitted to being naive during his younger years but he reiterates that he never did nor ever will support terrorism and explicitly states that he never engaged in any acts of terrorism. The military training he received while participating in the struggle for freedom in Indian controlled parts of Kashmir was standard military training that did not involve bomb-making, hijacking, targeting civilians or the preposterous type of instruction that he was purported to take part in.



Gitmo should be shut down and this was the promise made by Barack Obama on the 2nd of August 2007, yet money is continuously being spent on renovation, in excess of $500 million dollars.



The Howard Government refused to help him until political pressure was too much, the Bush Administration tried to weasel their way out of their responsibility for coordinating illegal military commissions and the Obama Administration continues the 'heroic' legacy by keeping the Guantanamo Bay torture centre open. The public is hearing a different story now; the truth.



"True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.