In his memorandum to President Bush on January 25, 2002, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales argued that “the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (GPW) should not apply to the conflict with al Qaeda and the Taliban. …the President should rule that Geneva does not apply in order to ‘[s]ubstantially reduce the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act.’ The War Crimes Act imposes criminal penalties (including the death penalty) for violations of provisions in the GPW or other laws of war. ‘A determination that the GPW is not applicable,’ Gonzales explained, would ‘guard effectively against misconstruction or misapplication’ of the War Crimes law. It ‘would create a reasonable basis in law’ that the law did not apply, and ‘would provide a solid defense to any future prosecution.’ ”
– Jack Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency, Pages 64-65