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Feedback: Geneva Convention Must Be Upheld
Dear Sir,
In a rare moment of ideological weakness I find myself "at one" with the Green Party.
Green Foreign Affairs Spokesman Keith Locke said today (22 Nov) "our SAS troops should be pulled out of Afghanistan to stop New Zealand being involved in an imminent massacre of troops in the northern city of Kunduz".
Whether or not our SAS troops are actively involved in the current situation, the over-riding consideration has to be the upholding of (and adhering to) the fundamental principals of the Geneva Convention as it relates to the treatment of prisoners.
That includes the achieving of military objectives with the minimum casualties (so let us not hide behind the excuse that foreign troops failed to surrender so they were killed in the course of normal military action - the nature of their deaths will easily determine to even a casual observer whether it was the result of normal military action or systematic and vengeful slaughter).
If the United Nations, US, Britain and the Northern Alliance are unable to guarantee these principals, then yes, we should have our forces withdrawn immediately in protest and, yes, we should be letting all the factions know of our disgust over the possible usurping of international law, notwithstanding the totally objectionable behaviour of both the Taliban and "foreign" troops in this whole unfortunate affair.
If these principals are ignored in this instance then the whole Geneva Convention may as well be assigned to the scrap heap.
Mirek Marcanik
ENDS
Scoop
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