Australian soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are entitled to feel a sense of betrayal over the hero worship being afforded to terror suspect, David Hicks.
Betrayal is something soldiers learn about early in their training. Betrayal of a mate on the field of battle is cowardice. The penalty is excommunication. Betrayal of your country in war is treason. The penalty was death with dishonour.
The sacrifices made by our soldiers on the fields of battle over generations are well known and commemorated on Anzac Day each year.
Sadly these sacrifices have not always been shared by those on our home-front. Unions have refused to load ships for our troops; city folk have refused to give up leisure activities to support our war effort; and protestors threw red paint at our returning Vietnam Veterans.
9/11 changed the nature of warfare with Islamic extremists declaring a Jihad against everything we value – our freedom, our democracy and our way of life. The events of that fateful day will reverberate for generations to come. The Jihad being waged against Western civilization has no respect for human life. Our men, women and children, are infidels in the eyes of the Jihadists and can be beaten up, blown up, raped, exploited and executed at will.
Defending us in this insidious war against terrorism is a band of highly trained Australian soldiers risking their lives on a daily basis in two of the most dangerous places on earth – Iraq and Afghanistan. They leave their families without fanfare and return home from their tour of duty unnoticed and unsung.
It must gall them to read of the transformation of David Hicks, or Abu Muslim al Austraili as he was known to Osama Bin Laden, from alleged terrorist to celebrity prisoner.
The cries for justice from the chattering classes ring hollow with our soldiers who have witnessed the fanatical savagery of the Jihadists. Many trained in the same hate filled terror camps as Hicks.
Highly paid spin doctors have cleverly morphed the image of David Hicks from traitor to victim. The chattering classes, desperate to vent their spleens against John Howard and give some sort of relevance to their own lives, have embraced the cause celebre of Hicks in the name of ‘justice’.
They should be grateful that our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are fighting for their right to do just that.
Tags: David Hicks, Human Rights, International Affairs, My Opinion, Policy
