Guantanamo Bay -- Undermining the Global War on Terror
Abstract
Following 9/11, the U.S. Administration invoked extraordinary wartime powers to establish a new forward-leaning system of military justice that it hoped would match a very different type of conflict. As the Administration sought to apply those powers in the detention and trial of what it termed "unlawful combatants" on the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, it became mired in problems that it is still struggling to solve. Guantanamo Bay detention operations have produced operational benefits in the Global War on Terror (GWOT), but they also have generated a series of cascading problems for the Administration: angry foreign allies, a tarnishing of America's image, and declining cooperation in the GWOT. This paper outlines the competing positions on the legal status of the detainees and concludes that, in addition to undermining the rule of law, the consequences of the Administration's new system of military justice is to fuel global anti-Americanism, reduce cooperation and support for the GWOT, and deny the United States the moral high ground it needs to promote international human rights in the future. The attacks against the United States on 9/11 were horrific and it is in the interest of all civilized nations that the perpetrators be tried and punished, but long-held U.S. values on human rights must outweigh its desire for retribution. This paper recommends conducting tribunals in accordance with the Geneva Conventions to establish Prisoner of War status for the detainees and then moving the trials of alleged war criminals into the international arena. A hybrid U.S./United Nations international tribunal similar to the international courts established in Sierra Leone and East Timor in 2000 is proposed. The paper argues that such action would recapture much needed international legitimacy for the Administration, enabling it to generate greater diplomatic space within which to harness broader cooperation in the GWOT.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 18, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA434467
Entities
People
- Gerard P. Fogarty
Organizations
- United States Army War College