----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard S. Crawford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 4:16 PM Subject: Re: Treatment Of Prisoners (was RE: Tragedy in Israel)
> What bothers me the most is really Secretary Runsfeld's comments on how the > prisoners will be treated. They won't be treated as POW's, he says, > because they aren't *technically* prisoners of war; they weren't part of > military units, they weren't wearing uniforms, etc. My question is: are we > at war with Al-Quaeda or not? Ashcroft has shown himself to be more than > willing to treat Americans as though they were living in wartime, but can > we really toss that out when it becomes inconvenient? That's the sort of > hypocrisy that I really have trouble with. I think the argument is not that they are not prisoners of war, but that they are not lawful combatants. As far as I understand, the Geneva convention is a treaty. If an army follow certain rules while waging war, then the members of that army are afforded certain protections by that convention. For example, members of an army are expected to identify themselves as combatants, typically by wearing uniforms. Saboteurs and spies in civilian clothes are not protected by the Geneva convention. Clearly the attack on September 11th is an act of war. I think Jerone is the only one I know of who claims that it is not. It almost sounds as though he is arguing that violating the Geneva convention on war gives special rights to those that do it: the right to be tried in civilian courts before any action is taken...the requirement that any one who is attacked must hope that the country that houses those that planned the attack agrees to extradition. But, it is an act of war that violates the Geneva convention in a manner that removes the protection of that convention from those who violate it. So, the US is not required by treaty to give court martials to the POWs from AQ. Torture is still wrong, but I've seen no indication that they are being tortured. Dan M.
