User:Geo Swan/Guantanamo/thought experiments/How was captive John McCain like a Guantanamo captive?/thesis

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Thesis

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 * I am concerned that an inherent systemic bias is evident in how some wikipedians would like to see captives in the war on terror covered on the wikipedia.
 * I am concerned that an inherent systemic bias is evident in how some wikipedians would like to see captives in the war on terror covered on the wikipedia.


 * Here is the thought experiment. How would they be covered if they were Americans capives being held by some other power?


 * John McCain, and a significant number of other American pilots, were held captive by the North Vietnamese.


 * The Bush Presidency argues that the Guantanamo captives are not Prisoners of War, and are not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions.


 * Similarly, the Republic of North Vietnam argued that the American airmen they held were not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions, and that there were not Prisoners of War. I believe they argued that American pilots had not confined themselves to targeting solely military targets, but had also bombed civilian targets, like schools and hospitals.  I believe they argued the bombing of civilian targets, like schools and hospitals were war crimes, that should strip the airmen of the protections of POW status.


 * Didn't the North Vietnamese decide to treat all captured airmen as if they were war criminals, not POWs, protected by the Geneva Conventions, without specifically proving that each captured airman had participated in a mission that struck civilian targets?


 * Now suppose there had been no press coverage of the American captives, their identities, their ranks, their units, and the kinds of missions they were sent on. Then suppose the Supreme Court of North Vietnam forced the Vietnamese military to publish the specific accusations against each American flyer.  Suppose each set of specific accusations was unique -- markedly and significantly different from those faced by each other American flyer.  Is there anyone who doubts that each American flyer against whom the North Vietnamese had released accusation memos would merit coverage on the wikipedia?


 * But some wikipedians assert that it doesn't matter that each Guantanamo captive has faced an unique set of accusations. It is as if some wikipedians want to treat all the accusations as essentially identical.


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