Mark Steyn On Enemy Combatants

Annie

Diamond Member
Nov 22, 2003
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Gee, I wonder if the left ever read authors they generally don't agree with? I mean I do read Dowd and many others on the left.

Excerpt:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/steyn/cst-edt-steyn16.html

To be covered by Geneva, a combatant has to have (a) a commander who is responsible for his subordinates; (b) formal recognizable military insignia; (c) weapons that are carried openly, and (d) an adherence to the laws and customs of warfare.

Islamist terrorists meet none of these conditions, and extending the protection of the conventions to them would simply announce to the world that, from a legal point of view, there's no downside to embracing terror. Blow up a nightclub or a schoolhouse or a pizza parlor and you'll still get full POW status.

Ah-ha, say the Dems. But, if we don't treat our prisoners with respect, America's brave men and women in uniform will pay the price when they fall into enemy hands.

Hello? Does anyone in the Democratic Party still read the newspapers, other than the fawning editorials of the New York Times?

If an American falls into the hands of the enemy, he's going to be all over the Internet having his head hacked off for a recruitment video or dragged through the streets and strung up on a bridge in Fallujah.

The military historian Sir Max Hastings made the point last week that, in an age of overwhelming U.S. military supremacy, for her enemies asymmetric warfare -- i.e., terrorism -- is the only logical way to go. But the urge by the Democrats and the media to raise them to the level of lawful combatants only makes things even more asymmetric: They can decapitate us while screaming "Allahu Akbar!" and clean up on the DVD sales, while we're only supposed to ask name, rank and serial number, two of which they don't have and they're flexible on the first. The wish to gentrify the enemy and, by extension, their tactics will only result in more kidnappings and more decapitations.​
 
I would say that I can't wait to see Bully's reply to this, but he NEVER replies to anything clearly counters the positions he holds.
 
Kathianne said:
Hello? Does anyone in the Democratic Party still read the newspapers, other than the fawning editorials of the New York Times?[/INDENT]

What? And lose the primary source for their "talking points"? What would the Dems do for political views if they didn't have The Times to tell them what to think?

The Dems should take a good look at their "news" source by reading Journalistic Fraud by Bob Kohn. This book--all 300 pages of it, very detailed--takes an exacting look at the way the news department at The Times operates. Clearly, The Times' goal is to MAKE news and policy--not REPORT it, and heaven help those with opposing views!

Campaign finance reform? Not until Congress takes into consideration the millions of dollars The Times spends every day to further the issues The Times selects for the Democrat Party in the guise of reporting "news". For all intents and purposes, The Times is not a "newspaper" but a political 527 organization and should be labeled as such.
 

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