I am as concerned as anyone about the safety and treatment of the prisoners of war taken by the Iraqis. Rumsfeld is justified in calling for the humane treatment of prisoners.

I must point out, though, that the safeguards we are asking for, as spelled out in the Geneva Convention, are not safeguards we have provided to others in the recent past.

When prisoners were taken in Afghanistan we denied them prisoner of war status and took them to Guantanamo Bay, where they remain under questionable conditions. A number are reported to have committed suicide.

If we want our own soldiers taken prisoner to be treated well, the best way to ensure this is to do the same for others.

Secondly, Rumsfeld and Bush have started labeling various Iraqi leaders as “”war criminals.””

This is a concept based on international law and the World Court, which this administration has refused to support. Unless we are prepared to support these international institutions we have no right to invoke them when it is in our self interest to do so.

In both of these areas, the United States is not living up to the American value of fair play.

Diana Cundy, Paris

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