Not content with simply ignoring them, John Reid now asserts that the Geneva Conventions (which prohibit, among other things, torture/abuse of POWs, and aggressive warfare) are out of date. Why? Well, apparently for no other reason than the fact that the recent conduct of British and (especially) American soldiers (think force-feeding and other torture at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, ‘extraordinary rendition’ prisons, et al) is entirely inconsistent with these laws.
Here’s a novel concept. Instead of acting as an apologist for war criminals, why doesn’t the Defence Secretary try and bring some of them to justice?