Grant POW status to detainees

The last paragraph here really gets to me:

"About 340 detainees remain in Guantanamo on suspicion of links to terrorism, al-Qaida, or the Taliban. Most have been held for years without being charged."

We have this perception somehow that these are criminals suspects. Look at how the AP author is writing this. They're held "on suspicion of links to terrorism, al-Qaida, or the Taliban" and have been "held for years without being charged."

We need to change this perspective. One of the largest failings of the Administration in the War on Terror is the refusal to declare the individuals held at Guantanamo as POWs. By now calling them POWs, the Administration is fostering the perspective that it is a criminal matter. If they can just say, "Any honest reader of the Geneva Conventions would conclude that these terrorists are not Prisoners of War as defined by that document. However, the U.S. feels that it would be best to treat them in accord with the treatment of POWs as defined in the treaty. Thus we have decided to grant them the status of POWs even though the treaty would not give them those rights."

This would end the whole "held without charged" arguments because POWs aren't charged. They're held for the duration of the conflict in a preventative way, not in a punitive one.

Report: Saudi Gitmo Detainees Get Gift
Brietbart.com

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - The Saudi Arabian government will temporarily release 55 prisoners recently transferred from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and will give each of them about $2,600 to celebrate the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz granted the temporary releases from detention centers in Saudi Arabia so the prisoners could spend time with their families during the holiday in mid-October, the Okaz newspaper reported.

They will return to police custody after the holiday and will be referred to Saudi courts at the end of this month for upcoming trials, the paper said.

U.S. authorities transferred 16 Saudis from Guantanamo Bay back to Saudi Arabia in September, the latest transfer of prisoners from the U.S. detention facility. Fewer than 40 Saudi detainees remain in detention.