¹ Agora: The U.S. Decision Not to Ratify Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions on the Protection of War Victims: Letter of Transmittal (of Protocol 11) from President Reagan. 81 AJIL 910 (1987), followed by my An Appeal for Ratification by the United States, id. at 912.

² Agora: The U.S. Decision Not to Ratify Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions on the Protection of War Victims (Cont'd): Sofaer, The Rationale for the United States Decision, 82 AJIL 784 (1988).

³ Id. at 786.

⁴ Id. at 785. The JCS report is classified and therefore not available for academic scrutiny.

⁵ Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, Art. 43(1), reprinted in 16 ILM 1391 (1977) [hereinafter Protocol I].

⁶ For the history of the rule, see 14 Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, Official Records 318–34 (1978); M. Bothe, K.J. Partsch & W. A. Solf, New Rules for Victims of Armed Conflicts 236, para. 2.2.2 (1982) (Commentary (by Solf) to Art. 43); Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, at 506, para. 1659 ff. (Y. Sandoz, Ch. Swinarski & B. Zimmermann eds. 1987) (Commentary to Art. 43).

⁷ M. Bothe, K. J. Partsch & W. A. Solf, supra note 6, at 238, para. 2.3.2; and Mallison & Mallison, The Juridical Status of Privileged Combatants Under the Geneva Protocol of 1977 Concerning International Conflicts, Law & Contemp. Probs., Spring 1978, at 4, 20 (“While this article promotes observance of the law, it does not make such observance a requirement for inclusion as ‘armed forces’ ”).

⁸ Remember the experience of U.S. POWs during the Vietnam War!

⁹ Protocol I, supra note 5, Art. 96(3).

¹⁰ Sofaer, supra note 2, at 786.

¹¹ Id.