US and Britain disagree on what to do with ISIL prisoners
Under current international law, the correct course of action is to try them in theater (Iraq or Afghanistan) for the various war crimes that they committed and carry out the sentence.
The prisoners mentioned in the article all committed capital crimes.A dispute between the United States and Britain over what to do with Islamic State foreign fighters captured on the battlefield is demonstrating the complexities arising in the aftermath of a years-long war to oust the extremist group from its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
The latest flash point involves two men suspected of being Islamic State militants who have been held by coalition-backed forces in Syria since mid-January.
The men grew up in Britain and went to Syria to join a four-person militant cell that became known as the Beatles, owing to the British accents of its members. The cell rose to infamy with the 2014 beheading of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
The fate of the two Islamic State militants is part of a bigger dilemma for the United States and its coalition partners now that the extremist group has lost nearly all of the territory it once held. Hundreds of alleged Islamic State fighters have been captured on the battlefield, but in many cases, where they should face justice has not been determined.