What Is An “Unlawful Combatant,” And Why It Matters

‘According to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters currently being held captive at the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are not prisoners of war, but “unlawful combatants.” What’s the difference?

The short answer is that a prisoner of war is entitled to the protections set forth in the 1949 Geneva Convention. In contrast, an unlawful combatant is a fighter who does not play by the accepted rules of war, and therefore does not qualify for the Convention’s protections.

Buried within that short answer, however, are a host of complexities and troubling implications.’ FindLaw [via dangerousmeta]