Quote Originally Posted by marct View Post
This becomes a very interesting question - what is a "uniform"? It wasn't a problem back in the day, but I would submit that it is now.
Agreed but unfortunately, the GC is not designed to cope with today's modified realities so the Lawyers get to play.
...As such, any who wear their uniform (even if they define that as civilian clothes) must be offered the protection of the Geneva conventions analogous to the volunteer brigades in the Spanish Civil War. I know, it's not a popular argument .
I agree. That's why I said the majority (including all the Talib) should've simply been declared PW and confined in Afghanistan. The real issue is with the non-Taliban types, the AQ folks who do not merit the protection you propose and the GC offers and with which I agree.
Sorry, their definition as "illegal combatants". At the same time, the GC is vastly out of date and, in its categories, somewhat ridiculous.
Disagree on the former, agree on the latter -- I did however note that the Lawyers did not do the former at all well...
The problem with the sorting is that it doesn't really account for the current reality <sigh>. What is needed, IMHO, is a category of "irregular combatants" who are treated as POWs, but who may be interrogated to determine motivation and possibility for criminal charges based on international law.
That might be possible though my suspicion is that any attempt to do that will be fought tooth and nail by the HR community.
Nothing wrong with that . Still and all, Khadr met the UN definition of being a "child soldier". We can argue back and forth whether it is right or wrong in any individual case (or in general), but under existing international agreements, he meets the definition and law is all about definitions.
The UN is NOT a legislative body; they may propose things to their hearts content but they do not produce laws. Yes, Law is all about definitions or, more correctly, pocket lining arguments about definitions but it becomes sort of counterproductive when attempts to apply it fly in the face of common sense. A 15 year old can kill you just as dead as can a 30 year old.

Not to start a food fight but instead of looking down noses at the people who simply apprehended a 'child' being where he should not have been and doing something he should not have been doing and correctly in my view attempting to punish him for that, folks might want to look at the fact that the child had no business being there, had no business doing what he was doing and the fact that he was taken to that environment by his Father and possibly encouraged to do those things is not an excuse; the kid was in the wrong place at the wrong time and allegedly doing the wring thing -- and we did not put him there.

An attitude of excessive forgiveness of children for being little monsters has put the entire European hearth in danger of a takeover by the little dears. They need to learn that actions have consequences -- as do Parents who not only tolerate but actively encourage such foolishness (in this case criminality by the definition of the UN you say...). You youngsters will have fun with that, I'll be dead and gone so I'll miss it.