Quote:
Originally Posted by Botnst
The people being held there were not in uniform nor clearly under the authority of a legally belligerent country. Therefore, they have NO RIGHTS under the Geneva Conventions. They are not citizens of the USA so they have no inherent rights due to citizenship. It becomes the choice of USA how to treat those folks.
That decision concerning the enemy combatants captured overseas has followed a legal path through Congress and the courts and back to the courts again. As it should have done. Additionally, aliens captured in the USA have mostly NOT faced the military tribunal. Mostly they have ended-up in the court system and tried according to the laws of the land.
FDR did NOT follow that path. Illegal enemy combatants that we captured on our shores faced a military court and were executed. End of story and good riddance.
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Captured on our shores. That's key. As far as being illegal combatants, the teeming masses who hate us will see this as us making up rules to suit us.
This particular rule makes excellent sense when large nations, i.e. WW2 powers, are involved, but in the case of Afghanistan., we were up against impoverished, traditionally lightly organized factions, ruled much more by tribal than govt. loyalties.
As I've said before, for them to dress up in uniform and meet us on the open plains for battle would mean their rapid annihilation. Who is going to essentially say, "defeat us at once, imperialist dogs."