Criminals and Enemy Combatants.....
As the war on terrorism has been ongoing for over three years from the American perspective (I use the American perspective because it has been going on for a long time, we just didn't take it seriously as a nation until 9/11), one of the hardest concepts for Americans to grasp is the difference between criminals and enemy combatants. I will save the difference between enemy soldiers and enemy combatants for later. Many people in this country feel that those affiliated with Al Qaida and 9/11 should be arrested in the battlefield, read their Miranda warning, tried by their peers and have the appellate courts available to them. Why, because that is what we do with criminals and those who perpetrated the events of 9/11 and their affiliates are criminals right?
Were the pilots of the Japanese planes on 12/7/41 at Pearl Harbor criminals? At the time the US was not at war with Japan, they perpetrated an unprovoked and premeditated attack. Surely, they must be criminals. Most of the same people, would probably disagree. Why, because they wore uniforms and flew under the flag of a nation? Is this the distinction?
The magnificent nineteen, as they have been described by some in the fundamental Islamic world, were as much soldiers as the Japanese pilots. They trained like soldiers, they had a chain of command, they called themselves soldiers, and they were at war with the US as proclaimed in bin Laden's fatwahs. The only difference is the lack of uniforms and a flag, hence enemy combatant and not enemy soldier, but certainly not criminals.
Certainly not entitled to the protections given to those accused of crimes under the Constitution. In fact, not even entitled to those protections agreed upon in the Geneva Accords. Why, because they are not signatories and more so because they fail to uphold the agreed upon ideals as evidenced in their targeting of innocents.
The distinction between criminals and enemy combatants must be established because war has forever changed. We are just behind the curve.
Were the pilots of the Japanese planes on 12/7/41 at Pearl Harbor criminals? At the time the US was not at war with Japan, they perpetrated an unprovoked and premeditated attack. Surely, they must be criminals. Most of the same people, would probably disagree. Why, because they wore uniforms and flew under the flag of a nation? Is this the distinction?
The magnificent nineteen, as they have been described by some in the fundamental Islamic world, were as much soldiers as the Japanese pilots. They trained like soldiers, they had a chain of command, they called themselves soldiers, and they were at war with the US as proclaimed in bin Laden's fatwahs. The only difference is the lack of uniforms and a flag, hence enemy combatant and not enemy soldier, but certainly not criminals.
Certainly not entitled to the protections given to those accused of crimes under the Constitution. In fact, not even entitled to those protections agreed upon in the Geneva Accords. Why, because they are not signatories and more so because they fail to uphold the agreed upon ideals as evidenced in their targeting of innocents.
The distinction between criminals and enemy combatants must be established because war has forever changed. We are just behind the curve.
posted by Border Train at 9:14 PM
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