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Originally Posted by Xaccers
Interesting, so why did they give the afghans in cuba a different title to get around the geniva convention?
What is it, non-combatant fighters or something like that.
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The Bush Administration came up with the ficticious & legally meaningless term "illegal combatants" to describe alleged Taliban & Al Qaeda members captured in Afghanistan & elsewhere.
It's how they get around the Geneva Conventions in Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay, Baghram Airbase in Afghanistan, etc. Classing them as "illegal combatants" let them do things they could not do if they were classed as POWs or charged with terrorism offences.
...The US also currently holds two US Citizens as "illegal combatants" in a base in Florida (US soil - unlike Camp Delta) - one captured in Afganistan, & one captured in the US itself.
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Originally Posted by Damien
basically in the Afghanistan war the geneva convention did apply which is why they gave a different title to them. and maybe thats why they made sure it didnt apply to iraq?
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The Geneva Conventions *do* apply to the war in Iraq, & the subsequent occupation. It is not for the US (or anyone else) to decide if they apply or not.
Although once the upcoming "handover" (of limited "sovereignty", *not* power) takes place & the occupation officially ends (despite actually still continuing), the Geneva Conventions will apparently no longer apply to the Occupying Powers (the Coalition).