[That Metal Beastie]

Originally Posted by horatio

Oops, I misread the article, he wasn't a concentration camp guard but a soldier and involved in massacres. His guilt depends on whether he had a choice to oppose his superiors, whether they gave their soldiers some discretion, or not. I guess it is impossible to reconstruct such events, especially decades later.

Yup. Gonna be a tough one.

[jerhanner]

Originally Posted by cjopbj

Are war crimes still war crimes if you win the war? Is not being held accountable one of the spoils of war that goes only to the victor? I doubt anyone was ever held accountable for bombing Dresden. What about the torture at Gitmo? General Sherman said "War Is All Hell". If those starting it and those fighting it were all held accountable - win or lose - than perhaps the race to victory at any cost wouldn't be so urgent and so horrific.

You're absolutely right. I didn't learn about the American cavalry cutting out the uteruses of Native American women as war souveniers until I had a Cherokee professor. History, and the law books, are written by the ones with the stronger army...

[horatio]

Not that it would not be distasteful violation of a corpse if they cut them out once the women were dead, but did they do it while they were alive or dead?

[jerhanner]

I'm assuming dead, since he didn't say that they were alive. Those smallpox blankets probably sped things along, right??

[MonsieurHood]

I'll choose God's law over man's law any day. To start with, He's smarter than every creature in the universe put together. He knows what He's doing. It takes more courage (and faith) to forgive than it does to hold a grudge. Seething hatred, bitterness and revenge are the low paths, the dark side if you will. Forgiveness is the high road.

[Scribbler]

Originally Posted by That Metal Beastie

A quote from my alltime favorite film, Apocalypse Now, comes to mind- 'Charging someone for murder during war is like giving someone a speeding ticket at the Indianapolis 500'.
But I think the guy should go to trial. If he is guilty justice should be done.

No. Killing civilians in a concentration camp is not the same as killing another soldier on a battlefied in the heat of war. Surely you can see that? Examples: Concentration camp - war crime, use of white phosphor in shells against civilians - war crime

[cjopbj]

Originally Posted by MonsieurHood

I'll choose God's law over man's law any day. To start with, He's smarter than every creature in the universe put together. He knows what He's doing. It takes more courage (and faith) to forgive than it does to hold a grudge. Seething hatred, bitterness and revenge are the low paths, the dark side if you will. Forgiveness is the high road.

What are God's laws? Are you talking about gravity and inertia. Yes, they are amazingly consistant and difficult to break. Or are you talking about what's written in the various religious texts? All those books were written - and rewritten - by humans so they are ultimately man's laws too.

[horatio]

It's perhaps more about following your conscience instead of blindly playing by the book of law. Just think about torture and the recent attempts to legalize it.

[That Metal Beastie]

Originally Posted by Scribbler

No. Killing civilians in a concentration camp is not the same as killing another soldier on a battlefied in the heat of war. Surely you can see that? Examples: Concentration camp - war crime, use of white phosphor in shells against civilians - war crime

I can see that. It was not an apt quote.

[FanWriter45]

My suggestion is to educate her about what exactly happened during WWII. 6,000,000 people were rounded up and murdered. Many were tortured, and many were used as slave labor until they collapsed and died. A few were even turned into candles and fine leather garments... all because someone said, "these are not real people."

I don't care how old this guy is. If he had a part in that atrocity, then he deserves to be hauled before a court, and made to answer for his crimes.