geneva convention
 

I don't think the events of 9/11 followed the Geneva Convention.

We live in a new sad world.

I don't like Bush and the War but we also need to keep in mind the terrorist think nothing about killing civilians.

Maybe you should go talk to the terrorist about following the Geneva Convention.

I have never really understood why there are "rules to warfare".

Well said. The news this morning just illustrated an example of this. A Taliban suicide bomber on a bycycle killed four NATO (possibly Canadian) soldiers as they handed out pens ans school supplies to children. Some two dozen children are reported wounded. The Taliban crew in Guantanomo gets fed, medical attention, and prayer time. That's Geneva Convention enough.

Ignorance is bliss...
 

You think we make foreign policy decisions in a vaccum? When we consult our 'allies' (i use this term loosely outside of Britain, Australia and a few other countries) and they do not agree with us and we go on our own, this holds us in contempt in your eyes. Why? Because we didn't do what our allies thought we should do?

So we are supposed to get everyone's permission and/or consensus before we protect ourselves, in whatever fashion 'protect ourselves' manifests?

You also believe that terrorists have rights. I hardly think they have the same thoughts and opinions/beliefs when they are strapping dynamite or C4 around the chest getting ready to go into a crowded market place. I doubt that when they are loading a car with hundreds of pounds of explosives to ram a U.S. military checkpoint, they are considering our rights. The only thing they are thinking of is their (supposed) 72 virgins which await them in the afterlife.

I'm sure you'd feel a lot different about your political views/beliefs (or lack thereof) if someone you knew/loved was killed by an animal (terrorist). You suffer from what many other people in this country (most of them democrat) suffer from: Myopia. You are also jaded and desensitized courtesy of the media. Worse-yet, your memory is short. Most Americans, alive at the time, never forgot December 7th, 1941. A lot of Americans, alive at the time, have relegated 9/11th to just a really bad day in history...Now, should I have bagels & lox while I read this mornings edition of the Los Angeles Times? Or, should have a nice bottle of wine while I watch Fahrenheit 911 for the 30th time?

You conspiracy theorists are of the worst variety. Tell me, if that wasn't a passenger jet that crashed into the Pentagon, then where exactly did that plane full of people go? Or was the plane empty when it left the airport to begin with? How insulting your kind must be to loved ones who lost people on those flights...Yet you care not.

We should see what France thinks about us not being happy with Iran.
We should check-in to see if Germany thinks it is all-right if we don't like North Korea.

...It just occurred to me (again) that I'm wasting my time with you and your kind.

Ignorance is bliss.

gentlemen, a spirited discussion I applaud, getting personal is the realm of the uneducated....

some time ago i read a book called 'black hawk down', a gripping account of heroism and sacrifice by soldiers on the ground based on interviews with 'those who were there'. I then read another book by the pilot who was actually shot down and survived, a much more revealing book (andrew durant i think)

The overwhelming impression I gained from the books were that Clinton was more worried about 'world opinion' than supporting his troops and giving them adequate support. Consequently they embarked on a mission that was light on 'back up'.. and well... read the books (or see the movie) for the consequences.....

Anyway, as an aussie, I can't say I agree with all the post war activities of the US, but as the the brits learnt with the IRA, war is dirty and those f#@%ers use the media, funded protest groups, torture, greenies, proxy countries and any other means to weaken your resolve!

Stay the course and do what's right.........

Truer words....
 

Here, here! Truer words were never spoken...And from a friend and legitimate ally, no less.

You all will have to be nice or the moderators will play loud music and turn the thermostat down.

no kidding.. look where diplomacy got israel and palestine. BTW, for those who do not understand the term war, people get killed... they bust out artillery, guns, bullets, bombs, the works.. there is no such thing as rules for warfare. Everything is fair game.. it's not a chess game.

To quote Ronald Reagan, "there you go again"

They are not "terrorists". They are accused terrorists. There is a difference. And most of them have turned out to be innocent as is evidenced by their being released.

The question is not whether terrorists should have rights, but whether those being accused of being terrorists should have the right to clear their name and prove they are not a terrorist.

You might as well say that murderers do not deserve to have rights, so from now on anyone arrested for murder should just be executed with no trial or nothing.

We are currently holding over 14,000 "detainees" (for lack of a better term) and none of them have been charged with a crime, told why they are being held, and their families have not even been notified that they are in custody. They have simply been kidnapped and in most cases, I'm sure their families assume they are dead. Some of them have been held for over 4 years.

Over 18,000 have been held for periods of more than a year, and then released without ever being told why they were arrested in the first place, and without any compensation or apology.

If they are terrorists, then charge them with a crime and have a trial. I'm pretty sure that the right to prove one's innocence is not something that is an "American" right but a human right.

But look where diplomacy got Israel with Egypt and Jordan. ;)

Last time I heard, those treaties are holding up just fine since they were signed. The treaty with Egypt has lasted 27 years, and the treaty with Jordan has lasted 13 years.