US to violate international law

No big surprise, I guess. Just keeping lowering the bar for others to live up to.

Saddam Hussein must either be released from custody by June 30 or charged if the US and the new Iraqi government are to conform to international law, the International Committee of the Red Cross said last night.
Nada Doumani, a spokeswoman for the ICRC, told the Guardian: "The United States defines Saddam Hussein as a prisoner of war. At the end of an occupation PoWs have to be released provided they have no penal charges against them."

Her comments came as the international body, the only independent group with access to detainees in US custody, becomes increasingly concerned over the legal limbo in which thousands of people are being held in the run-up to the transfer of power at the end of the month.

There's no surprise that we aren't going to release Saddam, and while that is a violation of international law in itself, don't forget there are thousands of others we will hold indefinitely as well. And, smugly, the Bushies don't seem to care.

The US has made clear it will continue to detain some Iraqis after the transfer of sovereignty as part of its security operations.

Keep in mind, too, that this is not the Red Cross' fault. They are not saying we should release Saddam Hussein, or that he is innocent of anything. They are just trying to remind us of the rule of law that we agreed to follow. Or in this case not follow. 9/11 changed everything. Including our obligations to international law.