Republicans

[The Conquistador]

Originally Posted by Tread

The Geneva Convention

The US is involved in a conflict that they call War on Terrorism. Prisoners of that war are prisoners of war.

One party of the conflict are the imprisoned Terrorists (if someone confirms the element of terrorism on them). The Terrorists are armed.



Point (1) to become POW under the Geneva Convention is achieved. No need to have uniforms, insignia, or overt state endorsement. There are no conditions to lose this status by violate law and making no differentiation between civilian & military targets.

The legal position is not difficult. No matter what we personal might think what should happen to them.

1) They are unlawful combatants and are not recognized by the occupying forces.

2) A militia in times of war would have state endorsment and would supplement regular forces. See:

Main Entry: mi?li?tia
Pronunciation: \mə-ˈli-shə\
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, military service, from milit-, miles
Date: 1625
1 a : a part of the organized armed forces of a country liable to call only in emergency b : a body of citizens organized for military service
2 : the whole body of able-bodied male citizens declared by law as being subject to call to military service

The whole "military service" part would include them since that counts as state endorsment, but since the Iraqi government or the occupying forces do not recognize them as a supplemental force, they are unlawful combatants and are therefore not covered by The Geneva Conventions.