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International News Title: A lesson for Hicks: There are always consequences A lesson for Hicks: There are always consequences By Madonna King Updated 24 minutes ago Former Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks Former Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks. (AAP: Jarra McGrath/GetUp!, file photo) "Consequences'' is defined in the Oxford dictionary as "accept(ing) the results of one's choice or action''. It's a word David Hicks has not yet learned, or chooses to ignore. His personal story Guantanamo - My Journey is a brazen attempt to rewrite history; to paint black as white, and to ignore the seriousness of his involvement with Al Qaeda. His terror training is skipped over, while the reader is taken it seems almost daily through the horror of more than five years in Guantanamo Bay. And it's this crucial point - that he chooses to dismiss, deny and gloss over his involvement with the enemy - that leads to a real loss of credibility. David Hicks wasn't picked on because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time; he wasn't picked on because he was some poor lost soul inadvertently caught up in a war. He was pursued because of his involvement with Al Qaeda, which involved real and serious terrorist training. To believe otherwise, is to take his book, and his word, over all those independent analysts to his involvement. David Hicks reminds you of those people you meet in all walks of life; where life owes them something; they are always in the right, not the wrong; they are misunderstood, or not treated fairly, or weighed down by others around them. They're people who don't understand, or who don't want to understand, the consequences of their actions. It's an obvious trait, from early in Hicks's life. In his book, he paints himself as an intelligent thoughtful adolescent, whose rebellion was a product only of his inability to find his way. He deserved better; he was constantly trying to improve himself, and his prospects. It was as though the world owed him more. And that continued through his years. Even in Guantanamo Bay, he never seems to question whether the treatment being metered out was a result of his actions. His questions were more about how he could be treated like this, how the authorities could get away with treating him that way? Guantanamo Bay was horrible. And the details Hicks gives shows that: from the physical restraints, the abuse, the bashings, to the mind games. He did not deserve that. It was inhumane, but his portrayal can lose some of its credibility because of the lack of candour about the rest of his lost years. His ability to gloss over his terror training diminishes his account of the abuses he suffered. David Hicks supported terrorism. He trained with Al Qaeda. He knew what he was doing, and he kept doing it. He knew what side Australia was on, and chose the other. He might have had a tough adolescence. He might be scarred from the time he spent in Guantanamo Bay, but that doesn't excuse what he did. Australia's littered with kids who find it hard to settle down, who find school a drag, and struggle to find the right path. Few of those choose the road Hicks decided to travel down. Hicks won't do interviews; his publisher says the book had taken its toll and he just wants to live in peace. Once again, it's about him. No consequences. Even when he wants to enter the public debate, it's on his terms. He thinks he has the right to ask the questions, not answer them - as we saw last night on Q&A. Few, if any authors, have taken that track. He didn't have to write a book. But his decision to write what he has belittles the support given to him by so many. The Bali Nine is a group of youths sitting in a Bali jail; young opportunists with an eye for a quick buck. They are now paying for the consequences of their decision to strap heroin to their bodies and attempt to fly it back to Australia - and those consequences might include the death penalty. Whether you decide to speed behind the wheel of a car and cause an accident, decide to be a drug courier, or train with terrorists, it's worth remembering there are always consequences. If Hicks was as thoughtful as he portrays, he should know that by now.
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