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Hicks tried to join army - lawyer
GUANTANAMO Bay detainee David Hicks wanted to join the Australian army but did not have the education, his US military lawyer said today.Wasn't good enough for the Aussie army, so he joined al-Qaeda? Major Michael Mori, who is in Australia seeking legal advice on his client, was responding to claims Hicks had fought with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) before he was arrested alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2002. "David never fought there. I've been over to Kosovo and spoke to people who knew him there, and (they) said he never fought," Maj Mori said on ABC radio. "Other guys did. He just talked about it. Really, y'all should just let him go..." He said Hicks received five weeks' basic military training with a wooden gun but never used a real firearm in the Serbian province. "They wuz afraid he might hurt hisse'f." The Adelaide-born detainee was no different from other Australians who joined the NATO-led KLA and had not violated any laws. "I don't think anybody has heard me say that David didn't want to be a soldier," Maj Mori said. "He tried to join the Australian army, couldn't. I know it's really strange, here in Australia - a lot of people think that wanting to shoot a gun here is very strange. Obviously as an American it's very odd. We have armed militias in our country that are preparing to overthrow the US government if it becomes necessary. I think it's a different mindset." I'm not too sure about the mindset of somebody who really worries about the U.S. government being overthrown by militias. "So it's not so shocking to me to see an Australian who wants to learn and wants to be a soldier." Except that first of all, al-Qaeda aren't soldiers, and second of all, normally when you want to be a soldier you either join your own country's army or the Frenchy Foreign Legion. "I wish he'd (Hicks) had the education to get into the Australian army, where this whole situation may never have come about." Posted by: Fred 2007-02-28 |
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