The tribunals authorized by Bush in an executive order on November 13, 2001, were set up to try non-U.S. citizens on terrorism charges outside the regular U.S. federal and military courts. Those who plotted the hijacked plane attacks of September 11, 2001, were neither civilians nor warriors and did not deserve the legal protections granted to either, Bush argued.

Ten years and three major revisions later, the tribunals remain largely untested.