In Shift, Bush Says Geneva Rules Fit Taliban Captives but Not Qaeda Members: ‘President Bush decided today that the Geneva Convention would be applied to the Taliban captives being held in Cuba but not to Al Qaeda detainees, a decision that will make little difference in the day-to-day treatment of either but may help protect American soldiers captured in foreign conflicts.

The Bush administration had already decided not to grant prisoner- of-war status to any of the captives, and that decision holds.’ NY Times The grandiose hubris of the Shrub’s claiming the right to decide whenever it’s useful to be above the rule of law is a large part of what fuels resentment of us both among our European ‘allies’ and throughout the developing world. And is there no contradiction between our propagandistic insistence that this is a ‘war’ against terrorism and our transparently self-serving refusal to label our captured opponents prisoners of war?

At least there’s this:

“The decision marks the second victory this week for Secretary Powell, who has at times battled some of his more hard-line cabinet colleagues over foreign policy issues. Earlier this week, he announced that the administration would meet Russia’s demand for a legally binding agreement regarding the reduction of nuclear weapons. Some White House officials had not wanted to tie Washington’s hands with a written arms control agreement.”

I still, however, haven’t decided whether I should consider it pitiful that Colin Powell is the voice of moderation and diplomacy in a sitting administration…

On a related note: Legalizing War Against Iraq — Robert Wright: “One fact you probably won’t hear President Bush mention is that Iraq is in violation of international law. After all, that would require him to utter the phrase ‘international law’. ” Slate