Last word on Haneef?

The alternative claim by others on the left, that Minister Andrews acted incorrectly under the Migration Act in withdrawing Haneef’s visa, is false. He acted without the benefit of ex post wisdom and made a call on the basis of the information available to him. With new information and the decision of the DPP to drop charges against Haneef he may change his view. I don’t know all the facts and neither to the nitwits heaping abuse on Andrews.

The hysterical overreaction to the events surrounding Haneef is being promoted by linking Haneef’s fate with that of the terrorist David Hicks. I hope Haneef sues them - there is no evidence at all that Haneef trained with al-Qaida anywhere but there is evidence Hicks did. There is no comparability between the cases. The claim of moral equivalency is a disgusting slur on Haneef but it shows where the sympathies of these critics do lie.

Hicks’ father has fostered these distortions: “In the wake of Haneef’s release, the father of convicted terrorism supporter David Hicks on Saturday told an anti-war forum in Brisbane that the Indian doctor's case was similar to that of his son's in some ways.”

Innocent people are found innocent and charges are dropped because evidence is found to be flawed. This is a part of the criminal justice system we have. Haneef at this stage looks like he is innocent. The significant damage is not that he was investigated held for a short-period and then released. The problem is the hysterical overreaction to these events. We are becoming a nation of instant know-it-alls, ex post wisdom experts and hysterics.

Our hypersensitivity on these issues is fostered by the idiot left and the sensation-seeking press and promotes anti-western biases. The deeper malaise is that while we react to the slightest infringement on liberties in Australian we are blind to the atrocious treatment of those prosecuted for crimes in other countries.

In India itself it may have taken months or years for the Haneef case to be resolved. In Iran and Syria there would be no question that a person in Haneef’s position would be tortured and convicted. This is not to say the Australian system is perfect. Wrong information was acted on. But an apparently innocent man was quickly released once imperfections in information were known.