Points to Ponder:

History is too complicated to find a perfect fit within any theory. For the true believer, this inconvenience can be overcome. When fact and theory clash, the ideologue chooses theory. To the true believer, ideology is truth. [Dan Flynn (circa June 3, 2003)]

Points to Ponder:
(On the Historical Problems of Random Revolutions)

All these [agitations] in a nation, not yet fitted by education and habit for the enjoyment of freedom, gives me frequent suspicions, that they will greatly overshoot the mark, if indeed they have not already done it....Having never felt the evils of too weak an executive, the disorders to be apprehended from anarchy make as yet no impression. [Gouvernor Morris: Letter to John Jay From The Chateau de Versailles in Paris, France (circa June 26, 1789)]

Briefly on Al Qaeda and the Geneva Conventions:

Axiomatically, one runs a risk whenever they make a quick response to a statement or presupposition. However, in the interest of clarifying a common erroneous foundational presupposition on which many who take issue with certain parts of the Bush Administration's handling of the war on terror operate from, such is viewed at the present time to be a risk worth taking. It is not the present writer's intention to argue for or against the general approach taken towards the handling of terrorists taken by the Bush Administration in this posting. However, those who dispute said handlings in the mainstream media and elsewhere who appeal to the Geneva Conventions to do so are in need of a serious education on that point.

There are specific guidelines that are required for following if there is any properly recognized entitlement to prisoner of war status under the aforementioned convention protocols. These matters were covered in an annex to the Geneva Conventions promulgated at the Hague on October 18, 1907 and specify the following regulations to be observed:

ANNEX TO THE CONVENTION : Regulations respecting the laws and customs of war on land #Section I : On belligerents #Chapter I : The qualifications of belligerents

Article 1. The laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps fulfilling the following conditions:

1. To be commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates; 2. To have a fixed distinctive emblem recognizable at a distance; 3. To carry arms openly; and 4. To conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war. In countries where militia or volunteer corps constitute the army, or form part of it, they are included under the denomination "army." [International Committee of the Red Cross: Excerpt from Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land. The Hague (circa October 18, 1907)]

None of the above conditions are met by (i) Osama Bin Laden, (ii) others in command of Al Qaeda operatives, or (iii) Al Qaeda operatives. For that reason, none of the latter come close to qualifying for protections under the Geneva conventions. Ergo, any appeals to the Geneva Conventions pertaining to the treatment of Al Qaeda terrorists by the Bush Administration or anyone else are non-sequiturial and need not be taken seriously.