by Joseph I. Lieberman

About the author: Joseph I. Lieberman is a Democratic senator from Connecticut.

President George W. Bush’s Nov. 13, 2001, order authorizing military tribunals to detain and try foreign nationals accused of committing terrorist acts against the United States unleashed a firestorm of criticism, most of it suggesting that military trials grossly violate America’s commitment to civil rights and civil liberties. That’s truly unfortunate, because military tribunals have a long- settled and appropriate role to play in wartime, and the focus on whether to have military tribunals has obscured the far more important questions of what procedures those tribunals should follow and who should be subjected to them.

The Law of War

Although it may sound like an oxymoron to many, there is a body of...