Under the clear text of the Geneva Convention they are NOT POWs.
They do not belong to a recognized military under national control, they do not wear distinctive uniforms or insignia, and they do not abide by the rules of war, (IE their chosen tactic is to sneak aboard airplanes dressed as civilians in order to crash them into buildings).
In NO WAY do they qualify as POWs, they are clearly terrorists, pirates, and brigands, and are being afforded remarkably lenient conditions considering that if let loose they would hijack or explode more jets at the first opportunity.
They have chosen to join the Al Qaida TERRORIST organization, not a military.
They are the "unlawful combatants" of 9-11.
I'm having difficulty with the term "unlawful combatants". It begs the question, "unlawful according to what body of law?" Certainly what the terrorists did was against American law, but not against islamic law.
So if they did something against "our" law, but for "their" law, then our two countries must be at war.
Now I'm really going to have another beer!