John Yoo Quotes
Under the Geneva Convention, for example, a POW is required only to provide name, rank, and serial number and cannot receive any benefits for cooperating.
Yoo, John. "Terrorists Have No Geneva Rights." The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 26 May 2004.
The Justice Department and the White House were arguing that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to terrorist groups. See {589865}.
This clause applied to German POWs in America caused a problem for Blacks in the military were harshly discriminated against by a then discriminating country. The result was that Nazi POWs did not have to move to the back of a theater while the Back GIs were required to, and a host of other gross indignities.
The problem that was facing the nation in the early 21st century was when we captured a terrorist, was he a combatant or was he accused by a personal enemy, and had he been tortured to say he was a terrorist. The issue grew more complicated when terrorist suspects were brought to American territory at Guantanamo Bay, and the Courts have always held that a foreigner on American soil had a right to have access to the Federal Courts just as Citizens do. Complicating the situation more was the fact that a few American citizens had joined the terrorists and were they entitled to a civilian trial as all other Americans were.
There has always been some confusion in the case of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Geneva and Hague conventions are very clear when prisoners are official members of an state’s armed force with uniforms, insignia and ranks. It is also clear with respect to civilians. But the combatants of the insurgent and terrorist forces fall in between, and international law is less clear. The George W. Bush administration at first took the position that the captured combatants were not captured soldiers and were therefore not entitled to the treatment due that status. But the military regulations made no distinction as to how prisoners in combat should be treated. It is a very gray area, except that in either case, torture is illegal under U. S. and under International law.
This manual was still in force during the Iraq war 50 years later.
Goldsmith headed the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel—the office that makes legal opinions to guide the Federal Government’s conduct. Goldstein had been asked to render an opinion as to whether terrorists captured in the Iraq War were protected by the Geneva Conventions. The Justice Department staff had concluded that all Iraq civilians were covered including terrorists and insurgents. He was called to meeting at the White House with the President’s and Vice President’s counsels. When Goldsmith revealed the Justice Department conclusion, Addington grew agitated and made this response. The quotation provides insight into the operations of the George W. Bush White House and its relationship with the rest of the government.
Germany had invaded and occupied much of Europe. These two fronts accounted for the majority of the German casualties. The Germans not only violated the Geneva Convention and the Laws of War repeatedly, but as you can see from this quotation, it was deliberate policy. Keitel was tried and hanged after the war. See {621438} .
aware of the atrocities inflicted on Union prisoners of war at Confederate Prison Camps His testimony was corroborated, and the Commandant of Andersonville was found guilty and hanged.
John Choon Yoo is a Korean-born American legal scholar and former government official best known for authoring the Torture Memos, which provided a legal rationale for the torture of detainees during the War on Terror. Yoo is the Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.
