At 06:56 AM 2/8/02 +1100 Brett Coster wrote:
>I would hate to be the next US serviceman captured by any Axis of Evil (TM)
>state.
Actually, Brett, the Geneva Convention is rather explicit in that it only
applies to personnel of signatory States. That was supposed to be one
way of ensuring the success of the Geneva Convention - if you wanted the
protections of it for your own citizens, then you had to sign up.
The problem with this case is that neither The Taliban nor Al Qaeda signed
the Geneva Convention. As such, the decision *to* apply the Geneva
Conventions to these people should not be taken lightly, lest the entire
raison d'etre for the Geneva Conventions be undermined.
In the meantime, any State that takes the US treatment of prisoners at Camp
X-Ray (which, I should point out has been humane under almost any standard,
albeit not following the letter of the Geneva Convention (volunteers,
please, to offer these guys tin mess kits)) as an excuse for treating US
prisoners inhumanely, is, by definition, Evil.
>It's been a stupidly handled fiasco. And totally unnecessary. Under the
>Hague Convention, there is nothing to stop the US from bringing charges
>against anyone captured, Taliban, Al Qaeda or whatever, for war crimes.
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the whole point of being a Prisoner of
War that you get sent back to your home country after the War?
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"Our campaign against international terrorism does not represent some
sort of 'clash of civilizations.' Instead, it is a clash between
civilization and those who would destroy it." -Amb. Richard N. Haass
