Stateless enemies of the state

Legal | The challenges to bringing 'totemic' terrorists to trial | Mindy Belz

www.muslim.net/Associated Press

In the middle of June 1942, two German U-boats landed on the shores of the United States, one on Long Island, N.Y., and another on Pointe Vedra Beach south of Jacksonville, Fla. The U-boats were loaded with chests of detonators and explosives suitable for a year's worth of operations targeting U.S. cities and military installations. Aboard were eight Nazis who spoke perfect English and had American ties. Most of them immediately changed out of their uniforms and buried them in the sand, where the Coast Guard later found them. That simple guerrilla tactic made the Hitler hit men no longer eligible for POW status if caught—they could not be identified with an army and an observable chain of command.

When they were caught, two surrendered, were held and repatriated after the war. The other six were tried by a military tribunal and executed three months later.