Posted by Jost on October 15, 2006, at 12:25:27
In reply to Re: Sorry. I withdraw above questions, posted by alexandra_k on October 15, 2006, at 10:43:33
One small picky point.
The footsoldiers are not the ones charged with war crimes or cimes against humanity. You really do have to be in a position of significant power to be charged with that-- unless as in the US, a government is charging one of its own, in which case a lesser authority (eg a Marine Sgt. such as Lieutenant Calley in the Vietnam War) will be charged.
For example Adolf Eichmann, who was, I believe the one who famously claimed that he was following orders, was not a footsoldier:
"SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Karl Adolf Eichmann (1906-1962) was head of the Department for Jewish Affairs in the Gestapo from 1941 to 1945 and was chief of operations in the deportation of three million Jews to extermination camps. He joined the Austrian Nazi party in 1932 and later became a member of the SS. In 1934 he served as an SS corporal in the Dachau concentration camp. That same year he joined the SD and attracted the attention of Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich. By 1935 Eichmann was already working in the Jewish section, where he was investigating possible "solutions to the Jewish question....
It was Eichmann who organized the Wannsee Conference of January 1942, which focused on issues related to the "final solution of the Jewish question." From this point Eichmann assumed the leading role in the deportation of European Jews to the death camps, as well as in the plunder of their property."
The overwhelming majority of those in the SS and in the German army were never considered for prosecution, nor were German citizens who may have done all sorts of things.
Not, by the way, that I agree that the invasion of Iraq is even vaguely similar to the Nazi period.
My reason:
1. you intentionally decide to commit genocide or
1. You, for reasons that I won't guess at, invade a country, apparently with some idea of geopolitical gain, but also the idea of creating democracy or some friendly government with a fairly decent central authority, but
your plan doesn't work beyond your worse imaginings of not working; your political party whose goal is maintenance of power, as well as other things, must go on, so you turn a blind eye to the nightmarish consequences of your policy of invasion
2. history will judge you, but you try to think this is a "comma" in the whole parade of human historyThese are not the same cases. Given civility rules, I'll stick with that.
Jost
poster:Jost
thread:694101
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20061009/msgs/695019.html