Shouts from the desert

The US response to Howard's recent complaints that the Hicks matter has dragged on too long is strange. The charges were "sworn" but not laid by his mid-Februrary deadline. The US is refusing to guarantee that the Hicks accusations will be dealt with this year as Howard says he has demanded. Today Cheney has claimed the Bush Administration has no power to speed up even the process of having the charges approved, even though the organisation that has to approve them is a branch of the US military and can be instructed by the President to do so at any time.

This is starting to look like intentional delay. If the US Administration is intentionally delaying the Hicks matter when Howard has started making noises about wanting Hicks sent home this could only be because they want Australia to demand Hicks' return.

The only thing more damaging to the Bush Administration than having to return Hicks would be if the legal process &emdash; whatever that ends up being after all the court cases are done &emdash; were likely to exonerate him. It would be better for them to be able to continue to claim his guilt and say they had to send him home because Australia insisted than to be found to have held somebody for 6 years who was not guilty of any crime after all.

Exoneration would also be a disaster for Howard &emdash; if it were to happen before this year's election it would obliterate his chances. If he believes there is any possibility of Hicks being exonerated he would also want to set up the situation where it looked like he had no choice but to demand that Hicks be returned. Given the close working relationship Howard has with Bush, it is not impossible that they may be stage-managing a return of Hicks in the belief that their best option is that Hicks have no trial and they can continue to stand by their allegations.