Legal Lessons Learned from Afghanistan and Iraq Volume I Major Combat Operations ( 11 September 2001 – 1 May 2003 )
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Legal Lessons Learned From Afghanistan and Iraq Volume I Major Combat Operations ( 11 September 2001 – 1 May 2003 ) Center for Law and Military Operations The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School United States Army Charlottesville, Virginia CENTER FOR LAW AND MILITARY OPERATIONS (CLAMO) Director LTC Pamela Stahl Director, Domestic Operational Law LTC Joseph Dice Deputy Director, Training & Support MAJ Daniel Saumur Director, Joint Operational Law Maj Cody Weston, USMC Director, Coalition Operations Squadron Leader Catherine Wallis, Royal Australian Air Force Deputy Director, Operations CPT Brent Fitch Director, Interagency Operational Law/State Department Representative Mr. Bernard Seward, Jr. Advanced Operational Law Studies Officers MAJ Laura Klein & MAJ Lance Miller Legal Center/CLAMO Legal Administrator CW2 Damon Collier NCOIC Legal Center/CLAMO SFC James Smith Legal Interns Jonathan Cannon & Bridget Keenan Combat Training Centers LTC Mark Dupont Battle Command Training Program LTC Larss Celtnieks Battle Command Training Program MAJ Luis Rodriguez Battle Command Training Program MAJ Rick Lear Joint Readiness Training Center CPT Hank McKnelly Joint Readiness Training Center CPT Cory Young Joint Readiness Training Center SFC Lawrence Odoy Joint Readiness Training Center MAJ Toby Harryman National Training Center CPT Chris Kennebeck National Training Center SFC Stephen Pickerin National Training Center CPT Casey Nix Combat Maneuver Training Center The Center’s mission is to examine legal issues that arise during all phases of military operations and to devise training and resource strategies for addressing those issues. It seeks to fulfill this mission in five ways. First, it is the central repository within The Judge Advocate General's Corps for all-source data, information, memoranda, after-action materials and lessons learned pertaining to legal support to operations, foreign and domestic. Second, it supports judge advocates by analyzing all data and information, developing lessons learned across all military legal disciplines, and by disseminating these lessons learned and other operational information to the Army, Marine Corps, and Joint communities through publications, instruction, training, and databases accessible to operational forces, world-wide. Third, it supports judge advocates in the field by responding to requests for assistance, by engaging in a continuous exchange of information with the Combat Training Centers and their judge advocate observer-controllers, and by creating operational law training guides. Fourth, it integrates lessons learned from operations and the Combat Training Centers into emerging doctrine and into the curricula of all relevant courses, workshops, orientations, and seminars conducted at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. Fifth, in conjunction with The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, it sponsors conferences and symposia on topics of interest to operational lawyers The contents of this Publication are not to be construed as official positions, policies, or decisions of the U.S. Army, The Judge Advocate General, the U.S. Marine Corps, the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the U.S. Department of State, or the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State. The Center welcomes and solicits suggestions and contributions of relevant operational law materials from the field. LEGAL LESSONS LEARNED FROM AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ: VOLUME I, MAJOR COMBAT OPERATIONS (11 SEPTEMBER 2001 TO 1 MAY 2003) CENTER FOR LAW AND MILITARY OPERATIONS 1 AUGUST 2004 CENTER FOR LAW AND MILITARY OPERATIONS LEGAL LESSONS LEARNED FROM AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ: VOLUME I MAJOR COMBAT OPERATIONS (11 SEPTEMBER 2001 TO 1 MAY 2003) I. Introduction...............................................................................................1 II. The Military Operations and their Context..........................................4 A. Prologue.................................................................................................4 B. Background to the Conflicts................................................................6 C. Afghanistan (OEF) ...............................................................................6 1. Overview................................................................................................................ 6 a. Geography.......................................................................................................... 6 b. History................................................................................................................ 8 2. Operation ENDURING FREEDOM...................................................................... 9 a. Diplomatic and Legal Background .................................................................... 9 b. Major Combat Operations................................................................................ 11 c. Diplomatic, Legal, and Military Situation as of 1 May 2003 .......................... 14 D. Iraq (OIF)............................................................................................16 1. Overview.............................................................................................................. 16 a. Geography........................................................................................................ 16 b. History.............................................................................................................. 17 2. Operation IRAQI FREEDOM ............................................................................. 19 a. Diplomatic and Legal Background .................................................................. 19 b. Coalition and Iraqi Forces................................................................................ 24 c. Major Combat Operations................................................................................ 25 1. Week One (19 March – 25 March).............................................................. 25 2. Week Two (26 March – 1 April) ................................................................. 26 3. Week Three (2 April – 19 April) ................................................................. 27 d. Situation as of 1 May 2003 .............................................................................. 28 III. Lessons Learned...................................................................................30 A. International Law...............................................................................30 1. Understand How the Legal Basis for the Use of Force and Related Policy Considerations Shape the Mission............................................................................ 30 2. Anticipate the Potential Need for, and Understand the Legal Issues Involving, Capitulation Agreements, Local Cease-Fire Agreements, and Granting of Parole. 32 a. Capitulation Agreements.................................................................................. 33 i LEGAL LESSONS LEARNED FROM AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ: VOLUME I, MAJOR COMBAT OPERATIONS (11 SEPTEMBER 2001 TO 1 MAY 2003) b. Local Cease-Fire Agreements.......................................................................... 35 c. Parole................................................................................................................ 36 3. Understand the Law and Regulatory Structure Governing Detainee Operations.40 4. Detainee Operations in Iraq. ................................................................................ 41 a. Expect the Theater Level Internment Facility to Generate Complex Legal Issues, Particularly Those Associated with Detainee Status Determination......... 41 b. Implement a Plan to Handle Detainees at the Division Level, and Expect that Soldiers and Marines who are not Military Police will Play a Significant Role in Detainee Operations.............................................................................................. 47 c. Conduct Small-Unit and Individual Level Detainee Related Training Stressing Basic LOAC Principles......................................................................................... 49 d. Anticipate Legal Issues Relating to Detainee Evacuation from the Combat Zone and Aeromedical Evacuation....................................................................... 49 e. Expect that Displaced and Injured Civilians Will Seek Protection and/or Medical Treatment from U.S. Forces. .................................................................. 50 5. Detainee Operations in Afghanistan. .................................................................... 51 a. Be Prepared to Address Issues Concerning Detainee Status and Treatment in the Absence of Guidance from Higher Authorities, and Adapt Local Procedures to Implement Guidance from the Highest Levels of the United States Government........................................................................................................... 51 b. Expect to Face Issues Concerning Detainee Interrogation and Rules for the Use of Force ................................................................................................................. 55 c. Consider Assigning a JA as the Command Liaison Officer to the International Committee of the Red Cross................................................................................. 56 d. Facilitate the Flow of Information Concerning Detainee Operations.............. 58 e. Anticipate the Potential Capture of U.S. Citizens on the Battlefield..............