-Caveat Lector- http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=WIEBMQKQ2OYRMCRBAE0CFEYKE
EATGIWD?type=topnews&StoryID=582200 WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! U.S. to Fly More Afghan War Captives to Cuba February 08, 2002 10:57 AM ET Email this article Printer friendly version Reuters Photo By Charles Aldinger WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military will fly dozens more Afghan war captives to its naval base in Cuba in the coming weeks but no decision has been made on criminal charges or trials for the detainees, the Pentagon said on Friday. Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke spoke after President Bush shifted his stance on the captives by deciding on Thursday to apply the Geneva Convention to Taliban fighters but not members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda guerrilla network. "Over the coming days and weeks, there will continue to be a flow of detainees into Guantanamo," Clarke told reporters. Earlier flights have transported shackled, heavily-guarded captives from Afghanistan to small outdoor cells at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A total of 186 captives are now at the base and another 271 are under U.S. military control in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were scheduled to brief reporters later on the captive situation. Clarke said no decision had yet been made on charges against the detainees or whether many might face military tribunals authorized by Bush. WAS BIN LADEN KILLED? She also told reporters the United States had not determined the identities of one or more senior al Qaeda leaders believed killed by a missile fired by an unmanned CIA "Predator" spy plane in eastern Afghanistan on Monday. Clarke said bad weather had prevented U.S. military teams from reaching the scene high in the mountains in the vicinity of an often-bombed al Qaeda complex near Zawar Kili. The al Qaeda leader believed to have been killed in the attack was taller than those accompanying him, prompting some speculation about whether the United States may have hit its most wanted man in the war on terrorism -- Osama bin Laden. "My understanding is that they (military teams) have not gotten there yet," Clarke said. The United States has refused to call the Afghan war captives "prisoners of war" which would grant them specific rights under the Geneva Convention. Bush's decision that the Geneva Convention be applied to the Taliban captives, does not give them prisoner-of-war status and will not change their treatment but may help protect U.S. soldiers and blunt growing criticism from abroad about America's treatment of the detainees. Reaction so far has been mixed. Bush's decision has drawn fresh criticism by some human rights groups and the International Committee of the Red Cross made clear that it regards the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters as prisoners of war, despite Washington's categorization. "They were captured in combat (and) we consider them prisoners of war," ICRC spokesman Darcy Christen said in Geneva on Friday. LITTLE EFFECT ON TREATMENT Announcing Bush's shift on the Taliban captives, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the decision would have no practical effect on the day-to-day treatment of the captives. Fleischer said the United States was treating the captives humanely, giving them three meals a day, medical care and the opportunity to worship and would continue to do so. Analysts said Bush's decision may have been designed in part to protect the rights of U.S. soldiers who might be captured in the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan or elsewhere as Washington prosecutes its war on terrorism. Some analysts said a motive for refusing to consider the captives prisoners of war was to ensure that the United States could try them before special military tribunals, as distinct from the regular military courts required under the Geneva Convention. Foreign nations including some close U.S. allies like Britain and Germany had expressed misgivings about the captives at Guantanamo Bay after the Pentagon released a photograph showing some of them manacled, blindfolded and on their knees. Britain, which had asked the United States to explain the photographs, issued a quick statement welcoming Bush's decision on Thursday. The Third Geneva Convention of 1949 was designed to protect prisoners of war from inhumane treatment at the hands of their captors in conflicts covered by the treaty and to ensure that they receive proper nutrition, shelter and medical care. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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