Quote:
Originally posted by Skunk:
quote:
Originally posted by Azred:
"I was only following orders" is a piss-poor defense for a soldier. It didn't work at Nuremburg; it wouldn't work here.
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It didn't work at Nuremburg because the allies didn't want it to work at Nuremburg. No allied commander ever faced trial for the firebombing of Dresden or Tokyo because they were only following orders. And certainly, the crew of the
Enola Gay never faced any charges for their actions either.
Justice is for the victor and only for the victor - another painful reality of war.[/QUOTE]
I am so glad you mentioned them. Truman ordered the use of atomic bombs, which he knew would cause thousands of civilian deaths, in order to prevent tens of thousands of military deaths. Althought causing death is not to be taken lightly, there are times when sacrificing 1 to save 100 is necessary. The higher duty was to prevent myriadeaths (I love the prefix "myria"), hence this particular order was not immoral, merely tragic.