I'm thinking that Richard and the group that were called "hostiles" were actually just another stranded group that crashed on the island before DI started. By Richard's clothing, it would have been quite a few years that they would have been on the island, and they experienced all of the weirdness that our current group has (except for maybe the kidnappings). All of a sudden, they realize that there is a group of scientits and such with tons of food and communiacations and they want help, but in DI's effort to stay a secret ( and the false fear placed in them by the oreintation videos)they won't offer any. This goes on for years, when suddenly a troubled boy from DI encounters a young man from the hostiles, and both of them realize that the other is not what they have been led to believe. A secret bond has been made, and over the years, the troubled boy discovers more and becomes a master at using it to his advantage to hold some influence over the band of castaways that are praying for something to look forward to, and hold dear the promise of the troubled boy saving them. We saw Juliet defy Ben, and tell Jack that not everyone is on Ben's side.....I believe this was the truth. Ben's group is made up of 3 types of people: those that participated in the purge (the group Richard was in), those that were recruited from the outside and held there under false pretenses (like Juliet), and those that were kidnapped after landing on the island......any of these people could wake up one day hating Ben and thinking all that Locke voiced. If Richard thinks that Ben should go, I can see why he would have helped Locke come up with a solution that would lend to that purpose, just as Juliet did with Jack in Ben's surgery.http://community.livejournal.com/pondering_lost/113682.html#cutid1