SwiftVets.com

[Guest]

The petition calls upon the President and Congress to "direct the Department of Defense to recognize and designate as "Prisoner of War" (POW) not "Missing/Captured" (MIA-C) any member of the U.S. Armed Forces, paramilitary, militia, U.S. citizens employed by a U.S. agency or under U.S. Government contract who are captured and held against his/her will . . . " For more information click here and then click on the "call to action" link
http://www.nationalalliance.org/

[docford]

This is potentially a bad idea, particularly for non-military citizens who are captured. Under the Geneva Convention a POW who is captured while not wearing a military uniform can be immediately executed. The "uniform" requirement was one of the longstanding Rules of War, put in place to protect innocent civilians who would otherwise be targeted during a firefight.

One of the debates during the Vietnam War was whether many of the captured VC and NVA were actually POWS since they were not wearing uniforms. The lack of uniforms caused some problems in Vietnam, and now in Iraq and Afghanistan.

POW designation is reserved for uniformed personnel fighting on behalf of a legitimate government.

That is the basis for the "enemy combatant" designation we use for Al Qaeda and other terrorists. None are fighting while wearing uniforms. None represent a legitimate government. Therefore, they are not POWs. If we officially changed the designation to POW as demanded by the Democrats, the end result would not be what they desire. Or, maybe it would be. If we started executing these prisoners pursuant to the Geneva Convention, because they were POWs captured while fighting in civilian clothes (and therefore presumed to be a spy), the Democrats could start whining about the United States not respecting the HUMAN RIGHTS of these poor defenseless "FREEDOM FIGHTERS."

Also, changing an "enemy combatant" to POW automatically legitimizes the cause he is fighting for.

(Sorry, I got slightly off topic)
_________________
Doc Ford
HMC (SW) USN

[Guest]

Maybe it should be a take no prisoners on all sides.
no surrender policy.
you want to play the game play it till the end.

[mtboone]

[docford]

Generally, the bottom line for me is - don't throw your weight behind an idea (or sign a petition) until you have thought about how the idea will play out in the real world. Many things seem to be a good idea in the abstract.

And, think before you post something that sounds ridiculous
_________________
Doc Ford
HMC (SW) USN

[Guest]

If the petition is drawn up by the national alliance of families, then i'll take their side everytime.
they've been put through enough bs over the years with kerry, mccain and all the others put in charge of our pows/mias.