Jihad's Captives: Prisoners of War in Islam

Abstract

The on-going war against terrorism is waged against an array of adversaries that assert a religious and moral justification for their fight based on the Islamic doctrine of jihad. An invocation of jihad by Islamic leaders, both political and religious, has become increasingly common in conflicts against both Muslim and non-Muslim states, and more recently, non-state actors. Saddam Hussein declared a jihad against both Iran in the 1980s and the U.S.-led coalition in 1990. Mohammad Farrah Aideed's radio station in Mogadishu, Somalia broadcasted calls to join the jihad against United Nations (UN) forces in 1993. Fugitive leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, Mullah Omar and Usama bin Laden, enjoined the Muslim world community to unite in jihad against the Northern Alliance and the United States. In these examples and many others, Islamic adversaries are asserting legal and religious justifications for violence with very real implications for the justice of war, or jus ad bellum, and justice in war, or jus in bello.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA435829

Entities

People

  • Troy S. Thomas

Organizations

  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Case Studies
  • Communities
  • Geneva Conventions
  • Governments
  • International Law
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • Prisoners
  • Prisoners Of War
  • Radio Stations
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Terrorism
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.