Are "hostages" really prisoners of war?

[spanone]

The media and the pentagon are calling the missing men hostages. Since we are at "war", would not these people be prisoners of war?

[xultar]

1. Nope, War was over almost a year ago...

:eyes:

[knight_of_the_star]

2. I don't think so

I think that POWs have to be soldiers before they are captured to be considered POWs, just don't quote me on that. Anyone who knows more on the subject please correct me if I am wrong.

[stellanoir]

3. this administration. . .

has marginalized the UN, minumilized the world court, suspended habeus corpus at Guantanamo and no longer has a leg to stand on having to do with on any issue regarding human rigths. Therefore. . .

"mission accomplished."

[FlemingsGhost]

4. No, they are perps.

Men caught at the seen of a crime.

[WinningDoubt]

6. Those three Japanese kids on humanitarian mission are not perps

They are on the SCENE to help and some martyr wants to set them on fire. How quaint.

[FlemingsGhost]

7. You are correct. They are fools.

They came to an occupied country teeming with bloody violence.
Their own government has their hand in the crime.

I suppose they could have been expecting flowers.

[WinningDoubt]

8. They sound like caring people to me

May humanitarians have been called fools before but they are the brave ones in my mind.

[FL4GORE]

11. Hope they get out of this ok.

[kalian]

5. Just WHO says we are "at war"...?

The bushistas....? The US has not officially declared war on anybody
yet the bushistas like to THINK that they are in some sort of "war".
Unfortunately, people are dying because of their idiocy... :mad:

[rfkrocks]

9. well whatever they are-they are scared human beings

just like the poor Iraqis forced out of their homes in the city-I refuse to fall into the rethug trap of saying that hostages are responsible for their own capture-the government of the united states-ending at the president is responsible for all the lives lost there-as Truman says the buck stops at the presidency-even one on vacation at the ranch-I earnestly pray for peace-the way out of Iraq is humility and attempt at talking peace-the way of Jimmy Carter or MLK Jr-we need to have hope that the better angels of our nature succeed and we can get there by kicking out the dark force in the government called the GOP

[leesa]

10. We aren't at war. ..unless of course it's politically expedient for

Powell and Bush.