When will the pro-terrorist Left get the message that the illegal combatants captured in the course of combat operations have NO rights under the Geneva Conventions? The International Red Cross still doesnÂ’t get it.

The head of the international Red Cross on Friday deplored the Bush administration's refusal to allow its delegates to visit detainees in secret detention.

In an unusually strongly worded statement, the neutral agency known for its discretion expressed disappointment that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other officials refused to yield to its demand.

"No matter how legitimate the grounds for detention, there exists no right to conceal a person's whereabouts or to deny that he or she is being detained," said Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, following a series of top-level meetings in Washington.

The ICRC is designated by the Geneva Conventions on warfare as the organization to visit prisoners of war. It is the only independent body the United States allows to visit terror suspects detained in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but it has long been demanding access to detainees in "undisclosed locations."

The one problem is that they are not prisoners of war. They do not meet the requirements for that status, as they did not wear recognizable uniforms or insignia. They therefore have no right to any visits from anyone, nor do they have any rights beyond the most basic of humane treatment. They may, under traditional rules of war, be detained permanently, and even lack the right to more than the most rudimentary elements of due process.

When we are done with them, they merit a 5-minute hearing before a military officer in order to permit a plea for mercy, ordinarily followed by execution within the hour. And they should be reminded that such treatment is better than that received by hostages at the hands of their fellow terrorists.

Posted by: Greg at 11:49 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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