My point is that we should be big enough to exceed human rights requirements, not just meet them, regardless of the absurd niggling they're pursuing over legal combatants and whatnot.

Just like Scalia should have recused himself from that case involving his buddy Dick Cheney because he claimed that his relationship with Cheney wouldn't affect his decision. It well may not have affected his decision, but no one can possibly know that besides him, and even he may not know. The right thing for him to have done is to have recused himself to make sure that there couldn't be any priority treatment.

In the same way, the US should just assume that everyone, regardless of legal status, gets the basic protections allowed under the Geneva Convention. Is it required that we treat everyone that way? No. But why not avoid the speculation, be the bigger man, and just do the right thing to begin with instead of trying to determine if specific individuals deserve the right thing? It's not as if the Geneva convention requires unfettered anonymous communication to prisoners or a box of chocolates every day.