What about al-Douri?

Well, nothing different from my last post.

But...

Human Rights Watch has sent a letter dated January 12 to Rumsfiend.

The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which applies during military occupation, prohibits the punishment of any person for an offense that he or she has not personally committed. This prohibition outlaws any use of “collective penalties” or reprisals against civilians or their property.

How does that pertain to al-Douri? We've arrested his wife and daughter.

The letter outlines further violations of this particular convention.

These incidents involve the demolition of homes of Iraqis on at least four recent occasions in situations that did not meet the test of military necessity, but rather appeared to be for the purpose of punishing or compelling the cooperation of the family in question.

...The most recent of these incidents was reported in an Associated Press dispatch of January 3, 2004. According to this report, U.S. forces operating in or near Samarra destroyed the home of Talab Saleh. Witnesses told the AP that Saleh is suspected of orchestrating attacks against U.S. forces. However, there was no indication in the report that the house was being used in carrying out an attack at the time it was demolished. The AP also reported that troops arrested Saleh’s wife and brother, saying they would only be released when Saleh surrenders.

...In another case, reported on December 3, 2003, U.S. troops of the 173rd Airborne Brigade partially destroyed the home of an elderly couple in the town of Hawija, west of Kirkuk, after explosives were found there. The troops reportedly parked a bulldozer in front of their home and threatened to demolish it unless the couple provided information. After the woman gave the soldiers information, they destroyed the front wall of the compound and took her into custody. “OK, I’m not gonna destroy the house,” Maj. Andrew Rohling, the unit commander, was reported saying. “Just the front, as a show of force.”

A third incident occurred in Tikrit in mid-November 2003, when U.S. forces reportedly used tank and artillery fire to destroy homes belonging to families of Iraqis who allegedly mounted attacks against U.S. forces. A spokesman for the U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division said the demolitions were intended to “send a message” to the insurgents and their supporters.

...In cases in which the targeted object is normally dedicated to a civilian purpose such as a house, the presumption under the law is that it is not a legitimate target. Destroying civilian property as a reprisal or deterrent amounts to collective punishment and is prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention.

...The Geneva Conventions permit occupying forces to question civilians. Occupying forces may detain persons who are engaged in hostilities, have otherwise committed unlawful acts, or "for imperative reasons of security." No person can be punished for an offense without individual responsibility or as a collective penalty. And it is forbidden to detain a person as a hostage.

I can't understand why they hate us. And I wouldn't expect any satisfactory response from Rumsfiend, if I were you.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.