Civilian trials are a violation of the Geneva Convention

There are some flaws in the Obama administration's handling of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, says Robert Turner in the New York Post:

Indeed, detaining enemy combatants for the duration of hostilities without charge or trial is a long-recognized and lawful practice. Thus, the United States held more than 400,000 German POWs (and many Italians, too) at detention camps spread across 40-plus states -- without lawyers, charges or trials -- until World War II ended.

Before citing the 1949 Geneva POW Conventions, critics should be aware what they actually say. Article 84 states: "A prisoner of war shall be tried only by a military court." And Article 97 says: "Prisoners of war shall not in any case be transferred to penitentiary establishments (prisons, penitentiaries, convict prisons, etc.)."