Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Unlawful combatants

Considering how many people complain about the issue, it is strange that nobody is really trying to figure out what to do with unlawful combatants. Because something has to be done, or at least decided.

By unlawful combatants I mean people who engage in combat without being entitled to a prisoner of war status as defined by the Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention (Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War). Traditionally such people were shot on sight, which is fine with me, but since nowadays the US decided to capture them and put them in Guantanamo Bay, shooting them all after having kept them there for a few years would be a bit rude.

Anyway, what do you do with the fuckers? You obviously can't give them normal trials like normal civilians, what with proper evidence gathering not being a high priority during military action, you can't treat them like prisoners of war (at least not if you want people abiding by the laws and customs of war in the future), and you can't keep them forever in Guantanamo Bay, either.

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