I think that all the talk about ``illegal combatants'' is ridiculous. We should treat them the same whether they were unifomed or not.

Not at all. There's two problems here:

1. The people in Guantanamo were illegal combatants. Combatants are required by the Geneva Convention to wear uniform (or something else that identifies them as combatants). This is designed to protect civilians -- after all, if one side can't tell the difference, what's to stop them shooting innocent people? If you don't wear a uniform, you're an illegal combatant.

2. On the other hand, there's no reason to entirely suspend someone's human rights just because you're not bound to the terms of the Geneva Convention in their case.