According to an article by Scott Shane in the New York Times:

A bipartisan group of 200 former government officials, retired generals and religious leaders plans to issue a statement on Wednesday calling for a presidential order to outlaw some interrogation and detention practices used by the Bush administration over the last six years.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

According to McClatchy Newspapers and former Defense and Administration officials, abuse of prisoners held without charges was a consequence of a legal firewall constructed by a War Council composed of Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, John Yoo, William Haynes and Timothy Flanigan which met in secret to deliberately and premeditatedly toss out US and International laws specifically designed to assure humane prisoner treatment at Guantanamo and in Afghanistan. This legal framework sought to justify detention in a way that thwarted Federal courts, international treaties and the Military Code of Justice, as well as obscuring accountability and preventing prosecution on all levels for what might be considered war crimes. The War Council was sanctioned following 9-11 by President George W. Bush, Vice-President Richard Bruce Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.  

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/...

(updated with new title)

My Dad landed on the beach at Normandy on June 7, 1944, Day Two of the great invasion. I remember him telling what it felt like coming in from England by boat, the smell of kippered herring for breakfast, the sound of artillery echoing across the water, then landing in hell. Lying on the sand, he almost lost his life when a bullet grazed his helmet. One of his buddies never made it off that beach.

America is a nation of contradictions. On the one hand, we can be an enormously generous and compassionate people. On the other, issues of racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice can be found uncomfortably close to the surface in our society. In this Democratic primary season, both of these contradictory aspects have clearly shown themselves.