Geneva Conventions and POWs
This column is written in the context of a recent federal district judge's erroneous ruling that requires application of the Geneva Conventions to a prisoner now held at Guantanamo. The column, written by two lawyers, presents an excellent legal overview of how the Conventions apply and to whom they apply. It's too bad these simple facts are ignored by activists who use the Conventions to make political points.
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CNN is devoting a lot of coverage to this, but their Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, has been very careful to point out that the facts aren't yet known and that the Marine in question may not have done anything wrong. So, except for the point that they may be overplaying the story, I think they're covering it reasonably.
From the video I saw, the insurgent who was killed was effectively a prisoner. A prisoner, wounded or not, cannot be harmed if he does not present a threat. Every member of our military knows this.
If the prisoner shot by this Marine presented no threat, then the Marine could be charged with murder. If, however, the Marine had valid reasons to believe that the prisoner presented a threat, then he shouldn't be charged with murder, although he could be charged with a violation of some other law or regulation, depending on the circumstances.
At this point, none of us knows enough to make judgments, and that includes CNN. I'm confident that the Marine Corps will fairly investigate the incident and make public their findings. Then we'll see how fairly the media covers the case.
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