Actually, the military makes the exact opposite case. They insist that everybody who goes downrange carefully follows each and every aspect of the Geneva and Hague conventions, and that we do not do a single thing wrong, or face Court Martial.
And one thing I tell everybody not to do is to read into what I am saying. I say things exactly as I see them, no hiding things between the lines. In no way am I saying that we should
not follow all the Laws of Land Warfare. It is just that if a few of them are bent a bit, you will find no tears coming from me. And trust me when I say that soldiers fighting are going to generally follow the same behavior, reguardless of who their enemy is. However, during the conflict they will start to change their behavior to match what they are facing.
For an example, look at WWII. In the Pacific, the Japanese were known for almost never taking prisoners. They might take them when a unit surrendered, but did not take them as individuals. In the instances where they did they were pretty universally tortured for whatever could be extracted, then executed. And during and after battles, it was not unusual for the Marines to find mutilated bodies of their comrades inside of Japanese positions. So is it any wonder that they often formed suicide pacts, and would save one bullet for themselves in case they might end up captured?
Then compare this to those ifghting in Germany and Italy. Yes, there were some atrocities, but these were exceptions, not the rule. All side in that Theatre were generally very careful to follow all of the rules regarding POWs. And such "suicide pacts" were almost unheard of.
Then less then a decade later many of these sames Soldiers and Marines that fought in the Pacific and Europe were fighting in Korea. Here the enemy generally followed the rules, and such attrocities did not happen.
I am not talking about propaganda here, but historical facts. Yet the Taliban and the groups that make it up are pretty much acting the same way that they did against the Soviets before, and the British, and every other invader. If you look around there are plenty of graphic videos of Soviet soldiers being executed and beheaded in Afghanistan.
And if you question this, I welcome anybody to read up on John Masters, a British Army Officer who wrote extensively of the region, including the 3 Anglo-Afghan Wars. There is a great biography of him, written by author John Clay.
Amazon.com: John Masters: A Regimented Life (9780718129453): John Clay: Books
So no, the Taliban are simply following their culture on the treatment of prisoners, and nothing we or anybody else do will ever change that. And no amount of nonsense propaganda will change that. Now if they treated prisoners well then only changed after things were done to them, I might think there is something there. But as I said, we have held hundreds of prisoners, and released hundreds of them. We give access to International Authorities, including the Red Crescent to those we hold. Do they do the same?
So if some are made to wear panties on their head, I will not shed any tears, nor call it a "war crime". And when people can't tell the difference between these actions and real war crimes, I have to wonder at their humanity.
I also apologize for the graphicness of the quote above, I did not write it, that is directly out of the book.