Obsessions overshadow vital lessons

Miranda Devine lets her Obsessions overshadow vital lessons by insinuating that Mamdouh Habib is guilty of something, but no one knows what.

Then we had the 60 Minutes interview with former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib. Channel Nine paid big money to Habib for a sobbing rehash of his allegations that he was beaten, tortured by electric shock and had menstrual blood thrown in his face while in US custody. Habib, whose claims are being treated as if they are highly credible, showed viewers marks he said were the result of cigarette burns and bruises inflicted by his captors. He laid out a case for future litigation.

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So, all of those photographs along with the convictions of the military police at Ahu Gharib, the FBI and US Army reports, the testimony of the UK detainees do not lend credence to Mr. Habib's claims. By taking his testimony out of context can Ms. Devine hope to discredit him.

But he wouldn't explain why he was in Afghanistan in 2001, or how, as a former cleaner on a pension, he managed to afford the airfares back and forth to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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So much for the common-law (and legal) defense against self-incrimmination. The accused does not have to explain anything. The prosecution must prove its case. In this debacle, no one can point to a crime that Mamdouh Habib may have committed under Australian, Pakistani, or Afghani law. There are only insinuations that he may have been up to something.

Apparently, Mr. Habib's crime is live beyond his means.

As Habib is living free in Sydney, and as the ASIO head, Denis Richardson, told a Senate committee this week that Habib is a security risk, these are important questions.

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What security risk does a retired pensioner pose?

Meanwhile, Richardson was telling a Senate committee on Tuesday: "We had a fairly good idea of what [Habib had] been up to. He was actually with people in Afghanistan who have a history of murdering innocent civilians, rather than actually being kidnapped by anyone. So his claim about him being kidnapped while he was in Afghanistan and tortured simply lacked credibility in terms of what we knew."

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People in Afghanistan who have a history of murdering innocent people would include:

• The Taliban
• The Northern Alliance
• The Pakistani Secret Service
• CIA
• US Army
• Al-Qaeda

If Ms. Devine wanted to include Australia, the list would include:

• The various police forces
• Government ministers
• Military forces
• Murderers
• Company executives
• Newspaper columists
• Current Affairs Journalists
• Drink Drivers
• Speeding Drivers