Dark Art: Timeline

Key events and decisions regarding interrogation in the War on Terror:

Sept. 11, 2001

Terrorists attack lower Manhattan and the Pentagon.

Sept. 14, 2001

President Bush issues "Declaration of National Emergency by Reason of Certain Terrorist Attacks."

Oct. 7, 2001

Military strikes begin against the Taliban regime and al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.

Nov. 13, 2001

Bush authorizes the detention of alleged terrorists and their subsequent trial by military commissions.

Jan. 16, 2002

First prisoners believed to be members of al Qaeda or the Taliban arrive at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Jan. 19, 2002

After much discussion between Justice Department and White House lawyers, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declares that al Qaeda and Taliban members are not entitled to prisoner of war status under the Geneva Conventions, but should be treated in a manner consistent with Geneva "to the extent appropriate."

Aug. 1, 2002

Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee states in a memo to White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales that the 1994 Torture Convention "prohibits only the most extreme acts by reserving criminal penalties solely for torture and declining to require such penalties for 'cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment."

Oct. 11, 2002

Defense officials exchange a series of memos discussing the utility and legality of adopting harsher interrogation techniques at Guantanamo.

Dec. 2, 2002

Acting on advice from Defense General Counsel William J. Haynes, Rumsfeld approves harsher interrogation techniques.

Jan. 15, 2003

Rumsfeld rescinds permission to use most of the previously approved harsher techniques, declaring they may be used only on a case-by-case basis with his approval. Rumsfeld also convenes a working group to assess legal policy and operational issues relating to detainees.

March 6, 2003

Defense working group recommends taking Geneva into account, but determines Taliban detainees do not qualify as prisoners of war and that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to other prisoners at Guantanamo. The group concludes the U.S. is, however, bound by the 1994 Torture Convention.

March 19, 2003

Coalition forces begin striking Iraq.

April 4, 2003

An updated Defense working group report discusses legal technicalities that could be used in a "good faith defense against prosecution" for the use of torture.

April 16, 2003

Rumsfeld provides officials at Guantanamo a new list of approved interrogation techniques less expansive than his earlier approved-then-rescinded list.

March 19, 2004

Assistant Attorney General Jack Goldsmith justifies the forcible removal of individuals from Iraq for the purposes of interrogation. Goldsmith argues the Geneva Convention prohibition on deportation does not apply to aliens in occupied territory.

SOURCE: "The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib," edited by Karen J. Greenberg and Joshua L. Dratel (Cambridge University Press, 2005)