Hi Jim,

I think it is safe to say that many Americans are not sure themselves as to what the 'status' of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay should be. They do not belong to a military unit, so should they NOT be considered POWS? Yet, when civilians themselves fight in a 'war' they are considered combatants IF they take up weapons. Also, we did declare 'war' on terrorism, so does that make them combatants afterall? Or should they be considered prisoners in our legal system awaiting due process? How can that be if they were not all captured inside US soil?

There are many 'conditions' to being considered POWs and EPWs. There are many conditions also to be allowed 'due process' by our legal system. It can be argued nonstop by U.S. citizens alone. I for one, think they SHOULD be considered POWs and accorded all rights according to the Geneva convention, but not due process of law as that is for another 'category' entirely.

Having said that, as an ex-interrogator, I see the 'problem' with the rights under the Geneva convention. We do not know exactly 'who' is family to these prisoners and the one right according to Geneva convention they are not receiving (all others I believe they actually ARE receiving-and it is considered humane treatment) is contact with their relatives. You can imagine the damage that type of contact could do to our homeland security if it occurs unless we are absolutely sure they are not terrorists.

Now that is from my 'military mind' so to speak that creeps up periodically based on my experience. Now as a citizen, I feel that they MUST be accorded all rights under the Geneva convention regardless if they are categorically declared POWs or not (as a minimum level of acceptable treatment to all POWS and detainees of any status because we would expect the same for our citizens), and I cannot see how they cannot be considered POWs if they are detained due to a war on terrorism.

I should add that while I am definitely concerned about the security of the U.S., I also feel that the Homeland Security bill as infringed upon our citizens rights and is putting us almost right back where we were during McCarthyism and even Hoover. Never before in our history since that time has any government department been legally able to tap our phones and detain us for any period of time under 'suspicion' without providing evidence in support of the detainment or reasonable evidence as to justification for the wiretaps. Most Americans assume it is ok for our security because they cannot imagine it happening to them . They picture this only occuring to non-U.S. citizens or 'the other guy' and that our government would not do this without just cause. That is ignorant thinking. They do not realize that they could be a victim tomorrow and how easy it would be. It is a sad state of affairs that we cannot protect the security of country without infringing on its citizens unreasonably.

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