Quote:
Originally Posted by Avimimus
Canadian soldiers also "took no prisoners" on several occasions (including near the end of the war). Such war crimes are often committed by soldiers with limited combat experience, however, there also seems to be a rule that soldiers from any country will tend to commit atrocities if the war goes on long enough (and their superiors/home country tolerates the crimes). Instead of allowing crimes to take place or not punishing them, there are also cases where warcrimes are part of a strategic choice. Given the right 'logic' and public indifference or support conscious policies to target civilians are also possible in many more societies than we'd like to pretend (eg. Canadian's firebombing Germany, NATO strategic nuclear arms).
It should be said that this in no way removes the burden from any country that committed atrocities, or failed to prevent or prosecute those committing atrocities. The disturbing thing about some of the killings of civilians that have come to light recently (Iraq, Afghanistan) is that the public has been 'prepared' enough not to be shocked and there is a growing sense that such crimes are "worth overlooking" for the greater cause.
In the case of Germany there was something unusual which was politically and culturally very deeply wrong - German troops committed atrocities against Italian civilians and even German civilians by the end of the war (althoguh, the scale of these atrocities is much less than those committed on the eastern front, in Warsaw or in the former Yugoslavia).
The point I'm making, is simply that all societies - to a greater or lesser degree - are capable of creating these types of situations or atrocities and that it is our responsibility - each single person in each country in the world - to ensure that:
- they are remembered
- that they are never condoned or minimised
- that we create a world where they are not possible
We are all responsible - not Stalin or Hitler or 'bomber' Harris or the Joint Chiefs - not a few 'bad apples' in the lower ranks - not the fact that the other side committed atrocities first or refuses to follow the 'rules' or the brutality of war itself.
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OK...but name a war where civilians did not die. In war, civilians die too. No matter how careful a military might be in their target selection and execution, civilians sometimes end up on the wrong end of a bomb or bullet.
Note also that when some enemies figure out that the other side is trying to avoid civilian casualties, they start using civilians as shields. So in that case, who is to blame when civilians die?
There is a big difference between what the Japanese did to...well, just about everyone they conquered or captured...and what a few Allied troops did to enemy soldiers on occasion. Both are wrong but to far different degrees.
The good guys are never 100% pure just as the bad guys are seldom 100% evil, but there is still a big difference between the two. When someone says there is no difference, the lines between good and evil become blurred and THAT is when I start to worry.
Just a small point, but Stalin and Hitler do not equate to "bomber Harris" or the Joint Chiefs or Churchill.
I'm not going to hold straffing enemy troops against a Russian recon pilot. I won't hold bombing a radar station filled with non-combat personnel against a German Stuka pilot. I won't hold dead civilians against a bomber pilot who missed the target or didn't have a weapon with enough precision to hit only the factory. And I won't hold civilian casualties against any pilot who was doing his job and trying to end a war.
Splitter