Law in the Service of Terror — Publication

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Publication

Sector

Not specified

Industry

Not specified

Status

Draft

Country

United States

Also Known As

Law for TerrorTerror Law

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Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventionsinternational humanitarian lawwars of national liberationReagan administration foreign policy

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95%

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About

Landmark 1985 article by Douglas J. Feith in The National Interest, titled 'Law in the Service of Terror,' arguing that Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (1977) is a pro-terrorist treaty masquerading as humanitarian law. Feith contends it effectively legalizes terrorism by blurring the distinction between lawful combatants and terrorists, granting the latter combatant status and protections, and reversing the post-WWII consensus on protecting civilians by requiring states to treat urban guerrillas as soldiers if they claim to fight for 'national liberation.' He calls for the U.S. not to ratify it, influencing Reagan administration policy. The piece remains a foundational text in critiques of 'lawfare' and modern interpretations of international humanitarian law.

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Douglas Feith

authored

Douglas Feith published 'Law in the Service of Terror — The Strange Case of the Additional Protocol' in The National Interest (Fall 1985) while serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. His central argument: Protocol I gives recognition and legal protection to terrorist groups. He followed this with 'Protocol I: Moving Humanitarian Law Backwards' in the Akron Law Review (Spring 1986). Feith's arguments directly influenced President Reagan's January 1987 decision to refuse ratification of Protocol I, with Reagan declaring 'we must not give recognition and protection to terrorist groups as a price for progress in humanitarian law.' The United States has never ratified Protocol I. This same expertise on Geneva Conventions made Feith central to the Bush-era debates on detainee treatment that produced the 'torture memos.'

Since 1985

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Published article 'Law in the Service of Terror' in The National Interest

Landmark article by Douglas J. Feith arguing that Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions is a pro-terrorist treaty masquerading as humanitarian law

1/1/1985

Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions adopted

Protocol that Feith argues effectively legalizes terrorism by blurring the distinction between lawful combatants and terrorists

1/1/1977

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