Geneva Intervention

The President was wrong, and acted improperly. He will not admit that or apologize. But at least, at long last, he and his administration are changing their policy regarding treatment of detainees. U.S. captives in the Bush administration’s so-called “war on terror” are now officially extended the rights they are guaranteed under the Geneva Convention. Hallelujah. A huge step in the right direction. (Read about it in the Washington Post, New York Times, FOX News, or BBC, as your fancy takes you.)

This is better news than if the Guantanamo Bay prison camp were to be closed, because the new policy applies to all U.S. detainees around the world. It is a cause for celebration.

The truth continues, of course, that such detainees are not in fact prisoners of war, because the “war on terror” is not a real war, just like the “war on drugs,” “war on hunger,” or “war on poverty.” It's an international policing operation.

The next step is for Congress and the administration (including the Pentagon) to decide exactly how to follow the terms of the Geneva Convention—most importantly, how to try detainees and decide their fate.

Regardless, this is a great day for human rights.