This memo was sent by Secretary of State Colin Powell in response to a briefing paper prepared by the legal counsel to the president. The secretary of state is asking the president to reconsider his judgment that detainees held in the “war on terrorism” cannot be afforded Prisoner of War (POW) status under the Geneva Convention. Calling the DOJ’s document “inaccurate,” Powell’s response casts the decision to strip detainees of Geneva protections in an ominous light, accurately predicting the response domestically, internationally and within Iraq itself. “The United States has never determined that the GPW did not apply to an armed conflict in which its forces have been engaged,” the secretary wrote, and “while no-one [sic] anticipated the precise situation that we face, the GPW was intended to cover all types of armed conflict.” [The memo is temporarily unavailable; you can download a copy off-site.] View file [0.0kb]
“I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the draft memorandum. I am concerned that the draft does not squarely present to the President the options that are available to him. Nor does it identify the significant pros and cons of each option.”