Airflorida:

This is the crux of the problem caused by Bush and co.

1) Just because the people we are going after are horrible, murderous villains does not give us the right to abandon our principles in fighting them! When we treat them differently than we would a US criminal at best we fail to 'sell' our fight and our principals to the global community (the hearts and minds battle of democracy and freedom), and at worst we are seen as hypocrites acting out of self interest rather than enlightened principals.

I'm sorry, but who gives a FLIP if we sell this war properly to the global community! We are fighting to protect the lives of American citizens. Not to mention that we have (for the first time if memory serves) given Geneva Convention rights to enemy combatants who do not wear the uniform of a foreign nation/state or in and of themselves follow the same conventional guidelines. But you are correct...we are acting out of self interest, but to protect our principals.