[stop_fascism]

First Post. Please be kind.

[conserv13]

I think they should be classified as POWs. We are in the middle of a war on terrorism, and these are our enemy prisoners.

[genefromjersey]

Well said !!
The "detainees" are indistinguishable from the (state-sponsored terrorist) Pirates of the Barbary Coast, and are "entitled" to the same treatment their predecessors often received: hanging from the yardarm.

It is totally disingenuous to suggest pirates should be treated with the honor and respect due a military foe !

[stalkingELK]

This shouldn't even be a topic for discussion.

people like this are a waste of air and should cease to exist.

are they guilty? - hell yes, caught 'red-handed'.

[Common Tator]

There is just one rule on the treatment of people who are captured and held by the victor of a war. What happens is decided by the victor.

The fact is in a WAR the victor always does whatever the victor wants to do to the losers.

Only a jouralism graduate could fail to understand that.

[steve-b]

There are several conditions described in the Geneva Conventions (wearing of a uniform or other visible identification, presence of an accountable chain of command, compliance with accepted norms of civilized warfare) which al-Qaeda (and terrorist organizations generally) manifestly fails to meet. Case closed.

The only real due process requirement (which admittedly require scrupulous care in order to forestall obvious possibilities for abuse) is a fair evaluation of evidence concerning whether or not 1)a given organization is, in fact, a terrorist group, and 2)whether or not a given prisoner is, in fact, an agent of said organization. If the answer to both questions is "yes", then the prisoner is the enemy general of mankind, to be dealt with as wolves are.

[Utopia]

Detainees or POWs?
Who cares? They are very, very bad people.

[BikerNYC]

If there were POWs, how would the treatment they receive differ from the treatment they receive now?

[dixiechick2000]

Nice first post.;o)

Bumping for later!

[Hans Moleman]

Detainees are people who are late for and appointment ("Sorry, I was detained.") or a student in "Detention Hall". POW's are uniformed members of an armed force of a legitimate country who have been captured in combat.

The taliban and al qaeda dirtbags are neither.