U.S. will give detainees Geneva rights

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, called to account by Congress after the Supreme Court blocked military tribunals, said Tuesday all detainees at Guantanamo Bay and in U.S. military custody everywhere are entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said the policy, outlined in a new Defense Department memo, reflects the recent 5-3 Supreme Court decision blocking military tribunals set up by
President Bush. That decision struck down the tribunals because they did not obey international law and had not been authorized by Congress.

The policy, described in a memo by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, appears to change the administration's earlier insistence that the detainees are not prisoners of war and thus not subject to the Geneva protections.

The memo instructs recipients to ensure that all Defense Department policies, practices and directives comply with Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions governing the humane treatment of prisoners.

"You will ensure that all DOD personnel adhere to these standards," England wrote.

Word of the Bush administration's new stance came as the Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings Tuesday on the politically charged issue of how detainees should be tried.

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Well thank you; we now have an Al-Qaida bill of rights that protects our enemies and gives them the same rights as our soldiers, does that make sense to anyone? Our so called “detainee’s” are now accorded the rights under the Geneva Convention? How is this possible at all, looking at article 4 section 2 of the Geneva Convention we see what is said.

2. Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfill the following conditions:

(a) That of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
(b) That of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;
(c) That of carrying arms openly;
(d) That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.

It’s very clear that they do not follow these rules and have no intentions of doing so. I understand that the administration is trying to prosecute this war carefully and politically correct, that is only done because there are those among us who use our troops and their deaths as political leverage and it disgusts me. It is my hope that the terrorists that we now find on the battlefield are more likely to be shot on site than be dragged into the legal system. They revel in the fact that they are chopping the heads off of our troops and killing innocent people. We must oppose this policy with all haste. Our president is very wrong on this one and it will come back to haunt us.