“On Saturday, November 10 [2001], at a small White House meeting on the subject [of how to treat prisoners captured in the war on terror] chaired by [Vice President Dick] Cheney, a directive was approved for [President] Bush’s signature. It authorized the military to detain anyone the president or his representative determined had ‘engaged in, aided or abetted, or conspired to commit’ terrorism. Although ‘full and fair’ judgment was pledged, detainees had no promise of a presumption of innocence or a public trial. The State Department and the NSC [National Security Council] staff had not participated in the discussions, and neither [Secretary of State Colin] Powell nor [National Security Advisor Condoleezza] Rice was aware of the discussion until the president–after a lunchtime discussion with Cheney–signed and released the order on November 13.”
– Karen DeYoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, Pages 365-366