In that case, I wouldn't expect a senior officer to turn a blind eye. I'd expect him to take the SEALs aside and say, "Let me be clear: You guys cut the John Wayne stuff or you're going to be peeling potatoes on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf for the next six months. Understood?" The reply would be: "Yes, sir! Understood, sir!" And that would be the end of that.
But a court martial? Maybe there's more to it than we know. But how much more could there be? Abed is alive. He has two eyes, two ears, ten fingers and ten toes. This much is clear: If a single alleged knuckle sandwich is all it takes to remove three Special Operators from the battlefield, Abed won this battle.
In his remarks accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama said, "And even as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. That is what makes us different from those whom we fight. That is a source of our strength."
I agree. Our troops should uphold the highest standards. Notwithstanding such rare but extravagantly publicized lapses as Abu Ghraib, they do exhibit a degree of self-restraint that no other military, now or in the past, can match.
But this, too, needs to be recognized: The notion that international law provides strict legal protections for terrorists is a new and dubious innovation, cooked up by trans-national lawyers seeking power for themselves and their organizations, along with unprecedented limitations on American power and sovereignty.
The Geneva Conventions are treaties that bind signatories in order to render conflicts among those signatories less brutal. The Geneva Conventions were never designed to protect those who have not signed them and who routinely violate them.
As Obama rightly noted: Terrorists abide by no rules. Therefore, they are not entitled to the protection of the rules. If we treat them humanely - as we do and as we should -- that is our choice based on our values, our standards, our humanity. It is not based on their rights. Rules that tie the hands of only one side in a conflict are neither moral nor useful.
A terrorist in American custody should be aware that he is in the presence of principled professionals. But he should not believe that he is untouchable or that he is entitled to the rights enjoyed by an American citizen under the U.S. Constitution - a document he'd gladly trample underfoot.
He should know that the troops who detain him are not like him: They won't chop off his head on video tape while chanting praise for a divinity pleased by the carnage. But he also should know that if he asks for a fat lip, he might just get a fat lip.