US accused of double standard after granting Saddam prisoner-of-war status

[CShine]

The US administration was accused of gross hypocrisy yesterday after granting Saddam Hussein the legal rights that for more than two years it has denied the 660 detainees held in Guantanamo Bay.

The treatment of Saddam as a prisoner of war under the terms of the Geneva Conventions and the promises he will be given a fair trial contrast sharply with the status of the "illegal combatants" picked up by the coalition forces in the war against terror.

The decision has been made by the Pentagon irrespective of whatever role Saddam may have had in orchestrating the resistance to the occupation, including the suicide bombings which have claimed the life of the UN representative Sergio Vieira di Mello and those of many Iraqi civilians. Insurgents have also killed almost 200 US soldiers since major combat ended in May.

While the Americans have consistently referred to the deposed dictator as a sponsor of world terrorism and guilty of crimes against humanity, the Guantanamo detainees still do not know the charges upon which they are being held.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=473986

[NNN0LHI]

1. Hey. What are old friends for? n/t

[bpilgrim]

2. i've been wondering when this would be brought out

though i knew it wouldn't be by our own lamestream corp media :puke:

peace

[JailBush]

3. I suspect the Gitmo prisoners are similar to Saddam...

Bush ordered Saddam captured when it would help his campaign, and he'll have the Gitmo prisoners released sometime next October. They'll probably all be phographed wearing "I Luv Bush" T-shirts as they board a plane bound for Afghanistan.

[Cronus Protagonist]

4. At Guantanamo

http://bushspeaks.com/home.asp?did=150



FUCK BUSH Buttons, Stickers & Magnets

[madrchsod]

5. saddam is or was-

depending on the laws-the elected president of iraq and was defending his country against an illegal invasion. iran will have a claim because of the use of chemical weapons in their war and the iraqi people for the deaths of an unknown amount of people. the problem with the united states claim is that there is no evidence that saddam did anything to the sovernity of the united states. it`s not hypocrisy-it`s reality.

[wabeewoman]

6. Yes, in spite of all the hype

I wondered what they could legally charge him with. If they go for the old charges from the 1990's it could get interesting. I doubt if he did anything against Iraqi law since he could just rewrite the law.

[ConcernedCanuk]

7. If someone "snagged" Junior - and took him out of the Country -

. . against his will

. . isn't that "kidnapping"

. . of course, blowing the USA all to crap in the meantime,

wouldn't that be a crime of some sort?

let's keep this thought going for a second

USA has approx 300 Million Iraq approx 20 million

so "collateral damage" of 150,000 Americans in the process would be "acceptable" ?

and then of course, spreading DU all over the States . . . . .

et., etc.

reverse the scenario, and this whole war seems sorta "sick"

OK - I furgot - Gawd is on Murikkka's side

right

[dbt]

8. A POW, eh?

Will Saddam be shown on TV any more now? That old Geneva Convention can be so inconvenient, you know...

:evilgrin:
dbt

[Nihil]

9. Not really ...

... it's only inconvenient if you believe in it - this bunch don't ...

"Look at the nasty foreign people breaking the Geneva convention by
showing pictures of US prisoners on TV"
vs.
"Look at the TV pictures of the nasty foreign prisoners that the US
heroes have captured"

"Gee, Saddam is evil - he killed that person's children"
vs.
"Hey, we got Saddam's sons!"

(or even vs. "Oops, the wall fell on those kids ... we didn't shoot
them <this time> so it's not our fault")

Anyone who expects an honest, consistent, factual message from this
administration is beyond redemption - they have willingly given up
the "sapiens" part of their species and regressed to homo moronicus,
"Republican Man".

Nihil

[kayell]

11. Homo moronicus, "Republican Man"

ROFL

"Anyone who expects an honest, consistent, factual message from this
administration is beyond redemption - they have willingly given up
the "sapiens" part of their species and regressed to homo moronicus,
"Republican Man"."

I love that. Do you mind if I use it for my new sigline? I would credit you of course.

[Nihil]

12. Feel free!

It's nice to have a post taken in the spirit intended!

[papau]

10. Rumsfeld said: Saddam NOT a POW !!!!

(Saddam NOT a POW)




US defends images of Saddam Hussein

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1520&ncid=1520&e=2&u=/afp/20031216/pl_afp/us_iraq_saddam_geneva_031216204921

Rumsfeld declined to categorise Saddam as a prisoner of war -- a status that would require him to notify his captors only of his name, military rank, date of birth and regimental serial number."He is being accorded the protection of a POW but he's not being legally described as one at this stage," Rumsfeld said.


The United States has previously faced criticism over its decision to designate captives in its campaign against global terrorism as "enemy combatants" and not prisoners of war. A top legal expert in Geneva said earlier Tuesday it was not up to the United States to decide how Saddam should be classified.



A senior US official meanwhile told The New York Times that Saddam, captured by US forces near Tikrit, could see his status change if it was determined that he played a role in attacks against non-military targets after May 1 this year.


The US considers that the military conflict with Iraq ended at that date. But Sandoz said prisoner of war status remained while a country was under occupation, or for at least a year after a conflict was over.



Comment: There are those that disagree

Sen. Robert Byrd: "I become ever more convinced that the war in Iraq was the wrong war at the wrong time in the wrong place for the wrong reasons."
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20031229&s=byrd