I just got this from Senator Cornyn’s office about the afternoon session of the Gonzalez hearing, after Gonzales left and the witnesses brought in to hurt his nomination went on:

For nearly three years, the Bush Administration has been harshly criticized by various media and legal elites for its interpretation of the Geneva Convention and its legal conclusion that al Qaeda fighters are not POWs and thus not entitled to the privileges afforded to POWs by that convention – despite overwhelming legal evidence and international scholarly support favoring the Bush interpretation.
Yet, at today’s confirmation hearing for Judge Alberto Gonzales, both of the two legal experts called by Senator Leahy to testify against Judge Gonzales conceded that al Qaeda fighters are indeed not POWs. Due to the extensive questioning of Judge Gonzales, the two legal experts did not begin their testimony until very late in the afternoon.
Following that testimony, Senator Cornyn asked the two professors: if someone is determined to be an al Qaeda fighter, “would they be entitled to the protections of the Geneva Convention?”
Dean Harold Koh gave a somewhat wordy response that eventually concluded with this clear, unequivocal statement: “they are not POWs.” Following Dean Koh’s response, Dean John Hutson said: “I take the same view.”
To be sure, Deans Koh and Hutson vociferously disagree with other aspects of the Administration’s war on terrorism policies and legal positions. But this concession – by Senator Leahy’s two legal experts no less – that Geneva POW privileges and protections DO NOT APPLY to al Qaeda fighters constitutes a remarkable and important concession. Unfortunately, this concession could be missed by the general public, however, due to the lateness in the day of the questioning by Senator Cornyn.