Quote:
Originally posted by dickens
Being new here, I think the original question was about Bush's re-election. Someone said they never expected Willie to get elected either. I know I'm still in shock about it. I was not shocked at his re-election since my party seemed to roll over play dead. I am worried. But I am hopeful because people just don't seem to like Kerry. He is cold and distant. He's been caught in so many lies I can't count them...but not sure that matters to people anymore. I think the debates may well tell the tale. Everyone said Gore would clean GW's clock and that isn't the way it turned out. I think Kerry will come across as what he is...mean and cold.
On another question: Not being military myself...is it me or does it seem as though we are the only people on the face of the planet that actually tries to abide by the Geneva Convention?
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You must be new to the Internet in general to think that after 47 posts anyone even remembers the original question.
On the election, since I cannot understand why even a flaming liberal would consider voting for Kerry, I do not understand why he is consistently in the mid- to high-40s. I guess ABB is the only thing that matters to a lot of Dem-leaning voters. So the big question will likely be that perennial cliche - voter turnout. Bush supporters generally are strongly supportive of Bush politically and personally, while Kerry supporters just don't like Bush or his policies. Will ABB be enough of a motivator to get them into the polling booths?
As for international humanitarian law, I would not limit your characterization to Americans, but it is true that the only countries who usually abide by the Conventions' rules are the Western countries whose cultures and laws are such that they would play by those rules even if there were no treaties. As noted with regard to the regulations "Enemy Prisoners of War, Retained Personnel, Civilian Internees, and Other Detainees" (AR 190–8/OPNAVINST 3461.6/AFJI 31–304/MCO 3461.1), by regulation all services default to the Geneva Convention categories even when they don't technically apply. When the SecDef says a particular category of detainee is not subject to the GC, he is not saying "...so we can hook batteries to their genitals if we want", despite the attempts by the media and international "humanitarian" groups to imply otherwise.