My problem with the Hicks situation is this: when there was the war between the Serbs, Croats, Muslims, etc, Hicks was over there fighting on the side of the Muslims (a "seperatist" group fighting against the "lawful" Serbian government, and did Howard, or any Australian for that matter, have a problem? Why wasn't he brought back and charged then? At least there he did some actual fighting, rather than be caught at a bu-stop heading out of the city he was holed up in. And some of you say he was trying to kill Aussie soldiers? He may have thought about it, even had a gun, but even the Americans are acknowledging he never fired a shot in anger, which is more than we can say for the "American Taliban" who's now either released, or in a US Federal prison under MUCH better conditions. And as for the thing with his lawer, "land of the free" indeed! Yeah, your free to roll over and agree with the government/prosecution, or your free to get charged basicly with treason, and go to jail yourself. It's always nice to have a choice, isn't it??? :roll: I mean, if this is the "democracy we're fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan for, looks to me like the pretty much had it under the former rulers. Not that I agree with those guys, but it's a bit hard to do all the "moral" posturing when this is happening in the US, IMO...