WAR HAS ITS PRIVILEGES. Writing on The Corner, Gregory McNeal quotes General Wesley Clark and law professor Kal Raustiala who argue in The New York Times that terrorists should be treated as criminals and not combatants.

McNeal quotes Professor Bobby Chesney of Wake Forest who responds:

It seems to me that this particular argument is missing a critical point: attacks on military objectives are indeed permitted, but only when carried out by someone with the combatant's privilege. Insofar as al Qaeda members lack that privilege, their conduct in bombing the USS Cole remains an illegal act of mass murder rather than a lawful act of war regardless of whether the perpetrators are deemed to be subject to military detention in connection with armed conflict.

Someone remind me again about the difference between Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hizbullah?
Where did Hamas and Hizbollah get this combatant's privilege?
(And don't get me started on Fatah...)

Technorati Tag: Hamas and Hizbollah.