This story relates how the civilian lawyers in the Defense Department, the Justice Department and the White House instead of acting to provide informed legal decisions on matters of state, actually led the assault on the Geneva Conventions which led to the torture and prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. They did this by drafting "legal opinions" that would allow the government to break the Geneva Conventions. This has happened and continues to happen. The government of the US has joined World War II Germany and Japan as outlaw states that show complete disregard for any conventions or rule of law. What is worse is that they have no respect for human lives and have sunk to the level of their attackers.
Legal Breach: The Government's Attorneys and Abu Ghraib
By ANDREW ROSENTHAL (New York Times)