The Geneva Conventions and the War on Terror

The Geneva Conventions were signed in the U.S. in 1949. "These international laws prohibit torture, outrages upon personal dignity, and humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions

They represent the "standards" and are important because of the protection these conventions give the United States upon being captured. When discussing the Geneva Conventions and how they applied to the war against al-Qaeda, John Yoo, reports that he and the Justice Department felt as though they did not apply to this war on terror because they did not sign the Geneva Conventions. He also discusses how the terrorist did not, nor had they ever, ever followed any of the rules of war. President George Bush listened to the Justice Department and the decision "triumphed" in which he made the decision in early 2002 that "Geneva Conventions would not hold."