>>Yes... 'cause no good deed goes unpunished. Now every other country has an excuse to detain Americans no matter where they are caught, to deny them due process etc. And the excuse is quite simple and unbeatable: "Americans set the precedent".
>
>Logical fallacy. None of our opponents since WW2 have treated any prisoners in accordance with the Geneva Convention. American citizens are routinely executed after capture. We are not fighting an enemy that obeys any rules of "civilized warfare" (a misnomer if there ever was one).

What are you talking about? Even Milosevic returned the pilot of the downed F-117A, and the two guys from the chopper.

But I see what you mean - this was army vs army, while we're talking about irregular troops here. You may have a point there, but then the above still applies to American irregular troops - various Blackwater and other "security providers" and other paramilitary organizations, private armies etc. They're obviously exempt from Geneva protections.