by B. R. GOWANI
one who subdues an “enemy” calls him/herself a “victor”
victory also grants the vanquisher power to …
label, fine, punish, and/or degrade the enemy
usually, both the winners and losers inflict mayhem and destruction
the victor gets to dictate the terms …
but, it is the vanquished who is put to trial for war crimes
Germany, Japan, and Italy lost the Second World War in 1945
(Russia followed by China suffered the most casualties)
so the USSR, Britain, & France led by the US tried the “enemy criminals”
Nazi Germans were tried in Nuremberg — 20 Nov. 1945 & 1 Oct. 1946
trials of the Japanese began on April 29, 1946, and lasted 2.5 years
all the judges were from the nations who “won” the war
none of the judges were well versed in international law
except the Indian judge Radhabinod Pal ,dissented the guilty verdict
“I would hold that each and every one of the accused must be found not guilty of each and every one of the charges in the indictment and should be acquitted on all those charges.”
Pal believed …
[The trial was a] “sham employment of legal process for the satisfaction of a thirst for revenge.”
the US itself was guilty of brutal crimes:
of firebombing Tokyo and other Japanese cities
and dropping atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
decades ago, Noam Chomsky reminded us:
“If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.”
alas, that day hasn’t arrived yet …
the US war criminals face no trial;
they depart the world peacefully & luxuriously
in 2021, two US war criminals Colin Powell & Donald Rumsfeld died
on March 22, 2022, another US war criminal Madeleine Albright expired
once Albright asked Colin Powell:
“What’s the point of having this superb military you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?”
so the “superb” US military was used against Serbia
the US committed many war crimes during that war
on the CBS program “60 Minutes,” she defended killing of Iraqi children
Stahl: “We have heard that a half a million children have died [because of sanctions against Iraq]. I mean that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And–you know, is the price worth it?”
Albright: “I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it.”
Albright was Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State between 1997 to 2001
in late 1997, Albright asked General Hugh Shelton, chairman of the JCS:
“Hugh, I know I shouldn’t even be asking you this, but what we really need in order to go in and take out Saddam is a precipitous event — something that would make us look good in the eyes of the world. Could you have one of our U-2s fly low enough — and slow enough — so as to guarantee that Saddam could shoot it down?”
if Saddam shoots the plane,
the US pilot also dies — but —
who cares for the human inside the plane?
the only thing we could say is …
Madam Secretary –
the world has one less war proponent
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com