A Code of Conduct in War
By Omar J. Nasir
Rancho Cucamonga , CA
All Afghan and US/NATO prisoners captured by either side must be treated according to the Geneva Convention. They must be treated as prisoners of war and not as criminals. The issues in the Afghan War are political and will be resolved in due course of time, so the “torturing” of prisoners does not bode well for talks with the Taliban and their Allies. The US Department of Defense must enforce a strict policy of treating prisoners according to the Geneva Convention and must ask the Taliban and their allies to do the same. In fact, this could be the first agreement between the two sides - respect for each other. Later on other agreements can follow which can ultimately lead to peace.
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf supported the treatment based on the Geneva Convention, but were overruled. The time has come to correct these mistakes of the previous administration and to look forward to a negotiated peace in Afghanistan. Viciousness, brutality and sub-human interrogation techniques are an anti-thesis of this objective. The objective in Afghanistan should be peace, so that US troops can be withdrawn without any further casualties.
The Pakistani Foreign has been delinquent on the issue of human right violations in Afghanistan and in Kashmir. These human rights violations need to be highlighted in a world forum, so that corrective action can be taken. World public opinion needs to be built for a more decent treatment of prisoners. Civil wars and political anomalies will exist, but we should not forget that we are a civilized world.
Therefore, I urge both the US Department of Defense and the Afghan Government on one side, and the Taliban and their allies on the other, to respect the political differences being expressed by the other side. It is true that the expression of political differences is through war, but even in war, there should be a code of conduct that both should respect and adhere to.
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