Six Floors of Detainee Operations in the Post-9/11 World
Abstract
Before 9/11, many nations battled terrorists and multi-clad insurgents in places like Ireland, Israel, and Algeria and subsequently detained these nontraditional combatants. These nations deliberated the applicability and relevance of the Geneva Conventions and frequently decided to conduct their detainee and interrogation operations by other standards. The United States had faced similarly ambiguous combatants in past conflicts, choosing to extend basic prisoner of war protections to such persons . . . based upon strong policy considerations, and ... not necessarily based on any conclusion that the United States was obligated to do so as a matter of law. After 9/11, however, the United States ceased viewing its efforts against terrorism as a police enforcement action and embarked upon a Global War on Terrorism. The Bush Administration asserted this was a new kind of war that justified reconsidering the manner in which the Laws of War would be interpreted and applied. According to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, "The reality is, the set of facts that exist today with al Qaeda and the Taliban were not necessarily the set of facts that were considered when the Geneva Conventions were fashioned." Certain provisions of the Geneva Conventions were even considered quaint. The United States has, by its post-9/11 policies and actions, demonstrated that the standards for conducting detainee operations, and perhaps the Geneva Conventions themselves, are ripe for reform.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA485657
Entities
People
- Thomas E. Ayres
Organizations
- United States Army War College