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The killing impulse when one has won a war has a bad history. The losing Roman general usually threw himself on his sword to avoid the indignity of mistreatment by his captors. Honorable victors did the right things by their captives.
After WW2 we sought revenge against the Nazis and Japanese military leaders and allowed some to live and executed others -- one Japanese commanding officer in particular was held responsible for atrocities committed by his troops from whom he had been cut off from any means of direction or control as we swept through the Pacific towards Japan (Admiral Yamashito was found guilty and executed, because he "knew or should have known" of the crimes committed by Japanese troops. ...). That execution in retrospect was generally viewed as an injustice.
Frankly, the only justification I can see for execution is to prevent the hazards of serious harms to people that might be inherent in letting live a leader who might inspire his followers to continue an insurgency or to seek revenge upon innocent opponents. No one, given what we increasingly know about human motivation and conduct, 'deserves' to be tortured or executed. Only extreme utilitarian considerations can be used to justify such barbarities. Torture is viewed according to most human rights accounts to be a non-derogable right (i.e. no exceptions) and increasingly execution world wide is similarly viewed. So we shall see what transpires with Saddam Hussein, whom we risk converting from a mass murderer to a martyr?
RESH wrote:
>> Call it Justice >> Hank Roth >> >> How hypocritical that the U.S. should imply from the show of having the >> "President of Iraq" appear before a single judge (I suppose that is what >> he was?) for an arraignment without benefit of representation, but hey, >> since when does the King of America care about real due process, and call >> it "justice," considering the years now that prisoners have been tortured >> and murdered in U.S. prisons, without the benefit of representation? >> [snip]
-- "A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy) -- Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood
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