Benjamin B. Ferencz and Henry King (Nuremberg prosecutors) on cspan now

[gristy]

Here's Mr. Ferencz's website: http://www.benferencz.org/

[troubleinwinter]

1. From his website:

"The three experienced American judges concluded that a preemptive strike as anticipatory self-defense was not a valid legal justification for mass murder. If every nation could decide for itself when to attack a presumed enemy, and when to engage in total war, the rule of law would be destroyed and the world would be destroyed with it."

"The United States, indicated its early support for the ICC, when President Bill Clinton addressed the General Assembly. He had the treaty signed at the UN on New Year's Eve, 2000. But, in an unprecedented repudiation, the signature of President Clinton was canceled as the new Bush administration, in May 2002, notified the UN that the US had no intention of becoming a party to the ICC."

"Aggression, according to the Nuremberg judges and other precedents, is "the supreme international crime" since it includes all the other crimes."

[G_j]

2. nominated, thanks

I have been collecting info on Bush war crimes.
this is very helpful, thanks!

[scarletlib]

3. This was a great program.

Hopefully it will be repeated again. Mr. Ferencz is a fantastic man. He said the Nazi's all tried to use the defense of 'pre-emptive attack' to excuse what they did. The Nazi's went to war first because they said it was only a matter of time until they were attacked (bullshit!) But he said that was shot down by the Trial Court at Nuremberg.

You can tell by listening to him and the other gentleman with him that neither thinks highly of bushco and their current preemptive wars. I think and this is my opinion that these gentlemen think bushco is little better than a nazi and his excuses no better than the failed arguments offered by the nazi's at Nuremburg.

[me b zola]

4. Missed them on cspan, I will keep an eye out for the repeat

:toast:




k&r

[burrowowl]

5. Nominated!

People forget the princiles underlying the Nuremburg Trails!

[IndyOp]

6. This and other lessons from Nuremberg are lost on the Bush administration

Ben Ferencz is 86-years-old. Tonight is the first I've heard of him. I've been reading articles at his site for the last hour. There is a 20-minute video of a talk he gave at his website (link below). This man is amazing.

Heed the Lesson of Nuremburg: Let No Nation Be Above the Law
Published in The Forward, November 18, 2005
<http://www.benferencz.org/arts/85.htm>

The American public deserves to be told the truth: The stated opposition of the Bush administration to the ICC is a sham. It is disgraceful that our government expects the rest of the world to simply swallow the argument that the United States is above the law. Those who oppose the ICC — whose most fundamental premise is that law applies equally to everyone — do not believe in the rule of law.

<snip>

And little wonder that many are suspicious of our intentions. Earlier this year, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld proclaimed America's intention to bypass, if necessary, restraints on the use of force codified by the U.N. Charter. Washington reserves the right, he warned, to anticipate hostilities and to strike first and pre-emptively — alone, if necessary — to counter a perceived threat to our national security.

Now, I do not wish to compare any Americans to the Nazi leaders. But after hearing Rumsfeld's words, I could not avoid being reminded of the argument put forward by the lead defendant in the Einsatzgruppen trial at Nuremberg, S.S. General Otto Ohlendorf. When asked to explain why his unit murdered more than 90,000 Jews, including their children, the remorseless defendant casually explained that it was justified as anticipatory self-defense.

Germany anticipated an attack from the Soviet Union, Ohlendorf argued, and since Jews were perceived as supporters of Bolshevism, they presumably posed a potential future threat to German national interests. And if Jewish children knew that their parents had been executed, he continued, they, too, might become enemies of Germany, and therefore they had to be killed.

In a carefully reasoned judgment by the three judges presiding over the case — all of them American — Ohlendorf's defense was held to be untenable, and the S.S. general was hanged.

Sixty years later, I am afraid, this and other lessons from Nuremberg are lost on the Bush administration.

Home Page + Video <http://www.benferencz.org>
Articles and Lectures <http://www.benferencz.org/artis.htm>

On edit: Add links & organize.

[bemildred]

7. Dang, he compared Dumbsfeldt to the Einsatzgruppen. Spin that. nt