I was listening to George Will and Fareed Zakaria really lay into Rumsfeld yesterday on “This Week.” Not a good sign for Rumsfeld. But there was one thing that at least sounded to me like a cheap shot. Unfortunately, ABC News’ website is lame and there’s no free transcript there (or on Nexis) so I can’t confirm whether I mis-heard the point or not (I was in the car). But the gist goes something like this:

Rumsfeld said long ago that the Geneva Convention doesn’t apply to prisoners caught in the war on terror. Will and Zakaria both got pretty huffy about how the Geneva Convention — once it was ratified by the Senate — became the law of the land. So to say that the Geneva Convention doesn’t apply is in effect saying that American soldiers can behave lawlessly in the eyes of Rumsfeld. Senator Pat Leahy agreed with everything Zakaria and Will said (which again shows you how bad things are for this White House) though he seemed more eager to blame Abu Ghraib and everything else on John Ashcroft.

Now, Rumsfeld may be wrong and if Will and Zakaria think he is, I’m inclined to agree with them. But they seemed to contort the argument unfairly. Is it really so outrageous to say that if prisoners taken from organizations — not states — which haven’t signed the Geneva convention, do not abide by the Geneva Convention and blatantly reject the spirit of the Geneva Convention (that’s why we call them terrorists) are therefore not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Convention? Obviously prisoners from al Qaeda and the Iraqi Army are different, but it was Will and Zakaria who seemed to be conflating them.

Of course the Geneva Convention is binding on Americans. Rumsfeld’s argument, I believe, is that it is not applicable in the case of terrorists apprehended by Americans. The Trading with the Enemy Act is binding on Americans too, but it simply doesn’t apply to Americans selling Nerf bats to Belgium. If Americans capture some French soldiers in the coming months — not altogether inconceivable — I’m sure the Geneva Convention will apply.