And another thing...

Geneva Convention

With all the recent talk about the Geneva Convention, I thought it might be informative if we all became familiar with the actual wording of it. There is also a PowerPoint presentation on it as well.

Geneva Convention: The Rules of War

Rule 1: Warring nations cannot use chemical weapons against each other.

Rule 2: The use of expanding bullets or materials calculated to cause unnecessary suffering is prohibited. An expanding bullet, upon impact, explodes within the body.

Rule 3: The discharge of projectiles (such as bullets or rockets) from balloons is prohibited. (Balloons?)

Rule 4: Prisoners of war must be humanely treated and protected from violence. Prisoners cannot be beaten or used for propaganda purposes (to try to change the way people think about something). (Saddam pretty much busted himself on that one.)

Rule 5: Prisoners of war must give their true name and rank or they will lose their prisoner of war protection.

Rule 6: Nations must follow procedures to identify the dead and wounded and to send information to their families.

Rule 7: Killing anyone who has surrendered is prohibited.

Rule 8: Zones must be set up in fighting areas to which the sick and injured can be taken for treatment.

Rule 9: Special protection from attack is granted to civilian hospitals marked with the Red Cross symbol.

Rule 10: The free passage of medical supplies is allowed.

Rule 11: Shipwrecked members of the armed forces at sea should be taken ashore to safety.

Rule 12: Any army that takes control of another country must provide food to the people in that country.

Rule 13: Attacks on civilians and undefended towns are prohibited.

Rule 14: Enemy submarines cannot sink merchant or business ships before passengers and crews have been saved.

Rule 15: A prisoner can be visited by a representative from his or her country. Prisoners have the right to talk privately without observers.

I guess we can all agree that Saddam has broken more than one of these rules.