The Evolution of Warfare, the Laws of War, and the Ethical Implications of U.S. Detainee Policy in the Global War on Terror and Beyond
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Authors
Sheie, Marc A.
Subjects
WAR
TRANSNATIONAL INSURGENCY
TERRORISM
MILITIA
ARMED FORCES OF A STATE
PRISONER OF WAR
DETAINEE
CRUEL
INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT
TORTURE
INTENT
NECESSITY
PROPORTIONALITY
DUE PROCESS
WAR POWERS
TRANSNATIONAL INSURGENCY
TERRORISM
MILITIA
ARMED FORCES OF A STATE
PRISONER OF WAR
DETAINEE
CRUEL
INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT
TORTURE
INTENT
NECESSITY
PROPORTIONALITY
DUE PROCESS
WAR POWERS
Advisors
Lober, George W.
Date of Issue
2006-06
Date
June 2006
Publisher
Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
The atrocities committed by Americans at Abu Ghraib shocked the collective American moral conscience. Guilty of inhumane treatment of its prisoners there, Abu Ghraib did immeasurable damage to U.S. credibility and made clear that American detainee policy is off-track and needs to comply with objective standards of law, morality, and operational effectiveness. The emotional aftermath of 9/11 created a politically permissive environment within which the military organizational structures was unsuited for the critical tasks assigned to them relative to the context of the Bush Administration’s “new paradigm.” Two issues sit at the forefront of the political context of U.S. detainee policy: war powers and human rights. This thesis will utilize a synthesized decision-making model to analyze the President’s decisions leading to the current detainee policy. Policy alternatives require smaller corrections to bureaucratic process, not a major reorganization of bureaucratic structure. This thesis will provide policy-makers with a moral and legal framework for a corrected detainee policy. Adoption of the full framework of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, including U.S. ratification of Additional Protocols I and II (1977), provides the best framework to combat transnational insurgency, while retaining the moral and legal high ground required of the world’s superpower.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Defense Analysis (DA)
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.