Again, the United States government finds itself on the wrong side of torture.

This time, it’s not the treatment of prisoners held by the United States. It’s the treatment U.S. soldiers received at the hands of Saddam’s henchmen during the first Gulf War.

Seventeen former POWs successfully brought suit against the Republic of Iraq in U.S. District Court. The details of abuse that emerged are repugnant. U.S. soldiers were beaten, burned, shocked and humiliated.

Then there was Abu Ghraib, and the Justice Department went to court to erase the verdict favoring the former POWs. After being rejected by the judge, the government won when the judgment was set aside on appeal. The case has been submitted to the Supreme Court, which has not decided whether to hear it.

John Norton Moore outlined the ins and outs in a Jan. 21 article for the online magazine Slate.

The U.S. government is arguing that the money to pay to POWs is needed for the reconstruction of Iraq, but the real purpose of the Justice Department’s case appears to be the protection of the U.S. Treasury against similar cases filed by prisoners who have been abused while in U.S. custody.

Congress, in 1996, passed legislation that allows civil litigation against tyrannical states as a way to punish them for illegal activities. These former POWs paid a terrible price in the service of their country. Now, the government is turning its back on them. The government, again, sides with torture over justice.