Abstract
This article addresses the limited and distinct function of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals established by the Department of Defense to review enemy combatant designations. It explains how the predicate legal determinations made by the United States with regard to the conflict in Afghanistan and the conflict with al Qaeda prevent these tribunals from considering whether individuals captured by the United States qualify as prisoners of war. This does not, however, render the function of these review tribunals illegitimate.