Sergeant Austin Tate, a U.S. Army military policeman stationed at a Baghdad prison, is accused of abusing multiple detainees prior to their interrogation by military intelligence officers. His media-savvy civilian attorney, Peter Conroy, contends that Tate was merely following orders, whereas Army prosecutor Robert Whittaker argues that Tate is nothing more than a renegade soldier who acted solely on his own. As Tate's court martial unfolds, Robert's brother Randy, a reporter assigned to cover the trial by his Washington newspaper, hears from a well-placed source that Tate's actions, however sadistic, may have been set in motion by secret directives issued at the highest level of the government. While Robert and Conroy battle in front of a military jury, Robert and Randy engage in their own version of civil war outside the courtroom.