[xzins]

If I were Lt Behenna’s attorney, and it was absolutely crystal clear that Behenna was right about an extremely dangerous insurgent who would be sure to kill more Americans, how would I defend Behenna.

First, you’d have to find a way to show how bad the insurgent was.

Next, I don’t know what you could do other than try to get some kind of jury nullification? You couldn’t go after justifiable homicide, could you? You’d have to go over the head of the rules.

[RedRover]

The lieutenant has one of the best military lawyers around, Jack Zimmermann (who recently defended LCpl Tatum). I hope there will be press coverage—from some source other than an Iraqi stringer in the French press.

[bigheadfred]

To be entitled to prisoner-of-war status, captured service members must be lawful combatants entitled to combatant's privilege—which gives them immunity from punishment for crimes constituting lawful acts of war, e.g., killing enemy troops. To qualify under the Fourth Geneva Convention, a combatant must have conducted military operations according to the laws and customs of war, be part of a chain of command, wear a "fixed distinctive marking, visible from a distance" and bear arms openly. Thus, uniforms and/or badges are important in determining prisoner-of-war status; and francs-tireurs, "terrorists", saboteurs, mercenaries and spies may not qualify. In practice, these criteria are not always interpreted strictly. Guerrillas, for example, do not necessarily wear an issued uniform nor carry arms openly, yet captured combatants of this type have sometimes been granted POW status. The criteria are generally applicable to international armed conflicts. In civil wars, insurgents are often treated as traitors or criminals by government forces, and are sometimes executed.wikipedia

I don't know, x, to send a clear message to the insurgents, it seems to me that killing them if they are captured would be the thing to do. But the politicization of this conflict throws a big monkey wrench on things. If they can prove this person was an insurgent I don't see the problem with killing him.