Introduction The end of the Cold War and the September 11 attacks dramatically altered the landscape of U.S. national security efforts. The singular, almost tangible threat presented by a major superpower was gone, and in its place was the “amorphous nature of a terrorist adversary” (Snow, 2014, p. 112). This new threat defied easy definition or identification and attacked in ways to which the United States was unaccustomed. Phrases like “asymmetric warfare” and “war on terror” have been used liberally by an executive branch wholly unprepared to mitigate such a threat, and exploited to justify any means to an end that still remains elusive. With the threat now receding and some means of government and defense now placed under the harsh light of public scrutiny, we are faced with questions of value. Specifically, were the measures used in pursuit of national security worth the human costs of moral ambiguity, invasion of privacy, and violation of civil liberties? Moral Ambiguity and the Creation of a Prisoner of War Inconsistent and convenient applications of the Geneva Conventions have been particularly highlighted in the delineation of prisoner of war (POW) status as applied to terrorists. The Bush administration agreed that the Taliban were fighting for a state (Afghanistan), and as such would normally get the protection afforded by the Geneva Conventions. However, they stated that both al Qaeda and Taliban fighters would not, in fact, be classified as prisoners of war. Because they believed that warfare was asymmetric, they concluded that they were not bound by the covenants regarding conventional warfare on which the Conventions are based (Caseldine-Barcht, 2006, pp. 76,77). This achieved a very important goal... half of the article... Bibliography Caseldine-Bracht, Jennifer. (2006, September). “Chapter 3: Security, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights: Finding a Balance.” Guantanamo Bay and the judicial treatment of foreigners. Purdue University Press. Landau, Susan. (2013, July/August). “Making Sense of Snowden: What's Significant in the NSA Surveillance Revelations.” Security and Privacy, IEEE. Volume 11, issue, 4. Retrieved from: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.jproxy.lib.ecu.edu/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6573302Lowenthal, Mark M. ((2012). Intelligence: From Secrets to Politics. SAGE Publications, CA.Mascolo, Georg, Ben (2013, October)..