Question 1.Gonzales Memo and the former A. G.'s opinion that the Geneva Protocols do not apply to Al Qaeda or the Taliban
The United States is a party to many treaties that regulate wars; one of these treaties is the 1949 Geneva Conventions that protects war victims. However, the events of September 11, 2001, have resulted to legal arguments on the jurisdiction of the Geneva conventions. President George Bush issued a presidential military order in response to the events of September 11 by authorizing the detention and trial of non -US citizens based on war against terrorism. The president’s action was supported by Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel who wrote a memorandum to President Bush. The memorandum justified the president’s order which according to Gonzales, the order did not violate the Geneva conventions because Taliban and Al-Qaeda were not within the coverage of Geneva Conventions.
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In the Common Article 3, prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees, the US is also bound by Article 75 of the First Protocol to the Conventions which calls for the protection of detained persons. However, there are two different conflicts that occurred between the US and it allies and the Taliban and the de facto government of Afghanistan. The war against terrorism between the US and the Taliban is not an international conflict that is not articulated in the Geneva Conventions. Question 2. Bush Administration violated the laws of war The Taliban are not party to the Geneva Protocols and conflict between an organization acting on its own cannot be considered as an international conflict hence, the Taliban and al-Qaeda are not entitled to the Geneva protection. This means the third Geneva conventions does not apply to al-Qaeda or Taliban because these are unlawful combatants hence, the Bush administration did not violate international laws. Question 3. Is the Obama Administration guilty of violating the laws of war?
The use of drones by the Obama administration violated international laws. For example, the signature strikes and double taps are some tactics that did not follow the international war regulations. Under the humanitarian laws, the US drone operators did not abide by the principle of distinction which require separating civilians and combatants. Although president Obama asserted that drone strikes were launched when there was near certainty, and civilian were not killed in the strikes. The assumption that the strikes targeted combatants converged at the scene of the initial strikes does not justify the principle of distinction.
