This is not to condone torture, which is still prohibited by the Torture Convention and federal criminal law.

While Taliban fighters had an initial claim to protection under the conventions, they lost POW status by failing to obey the standards of conduct for legal combatants: wearing uniforms, a responsible command structure, and obeying the laws of war.

It is also worth asking whether the strict limitations of Geneva make sense in a war against terrorists.

Under the Geneva Convention, for example, a POW is required only to provide name, rank, and serial number and cannot receive any benefits for cooperating.

President Bush and his commanders announced early in the conflict that the Conventions applied.

Applying different standards to al Qaeda does not abandon Geneva, but only recognizes that the U.S. faces a stateless enemy never contemplated by the Conventions.

First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully.