“By November 13, 2001, President Bush had made the erroneous claim that the September 11 attacks were acts of international terrorism of such an intensity as to create ‘a state of armed conflict’ and that they amounted to acts of ‘war’ by bin Laden and his followers. The Bush administration also argued that it had a right to detain any member of al Qaeda and other persons allegedly posing threats to national security without trial as ‘enemy’ or ‘unlawful’ combatants whether or not they were captured inside Afghanistan or in connection with the October 7 [2001] war with the Taliban.”
– Jordan J. Paust, Beyond the Law, Pages 47-48