Remember when John Kerry was called a flip-flopper, and they held up those flip-flops at the Republican National Convention?
Well, what do you call this:
White House: Detainees entitled to Geneva Convention protections
WASHINGTON
(AP) — The Bush administration said Tuesday that all detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and in all other U.S. military custody around the world are entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions.White House spokesman Tony Snow said the policy, outlined in a new Defense Department memo, reflects the recent 5-3 Supreme Court decision blocking military tribunals set up by President Bush.
The policy, described in a memo by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, appears to reverse the administration’s earlier insistence that the detainees are not prisoners of war and thus subject to the Geneva protections.
Seems like suspect timing to me. Didn’t they just recently decide to close Gitmo? Isn’t this a sort of after-the-fact declaration that is, in effect, meaningless?
Reporting I hear is that they’ve not decided on Gitmo yet, but that they’re thinking about it. The pentagon sent out announcements yesterday to the troops that, yes, they have to follow the Geneva Conventions with detainees (according to NPR this morning).
Is this a change? I don’t know. I hope it is, and that the administration really truly is going to abide by those conventions. It means too much, both for the captives and for our international reputation, for us to skirt these much longer.