Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A Matter of Scale

Jan Demjanjuk has been deported to Germany to stand trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity. Specifically,he is being charged as an accessory to the murder of 29,000 people; Jews, Slavs, Romany, people with retardation and so on. The ones who didn't fit in the plan of the master race. Maybe he's guilty, maybe he's not. The fact is, the US government allowed a sick, feeble 89 year old man to be shipped to Germany to stand trial for alleged war crimes as a guard at Sobibor. Note that, a guard! He didn't write policy, he didn't give orders, he was about 22 years old. If he had refused to follow orders, at the very least, he would have been imprisoned, at worst, executed. Is he innocent because of these factors? No. Should he stand trial? Yes. Is he guilty? The trial will determine that.
The incredible hypocrisy of the United States of America has rarely been more evident than in this case. Demjanjuk is denying his role as a guard at Sobibor, where at the very worst, he was a low-level scum bag. Dick Cheney has been traveling the country BOASTING about the torture and war crimes he and his vile crew committed in OUR FUCKING NAME! And he, Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, et al, have been assured by Obama and company that, yea though they wallowed in the valley of evil, they need fear no repercussion. What a country. Vote for change, vote for America the phony.

5 comments:

handheaded said...

yep i hate laws and the people they don't apply too

Patricia said...

Were they specifically assured of anything by Obama.? All I'm aware of is that he said that agents who followed orders in "good faith" were safe from prosecution, and that Obama talks about looking forward rather than backward. Well, we'll see what happens. They're starting some sort of hearings tomorrow to look into the memos.

All of that said - I think 89 is just too old for this. It's time already. And I'm half Jew. And my all Jew father was in Europe in WWII and was there for the liberation of the camps. I don't take that lightly at all. But 89 is really old. I don't meant that we should refuse to turn anyone over. But it's a toss-up as to whether an 89 year old man is even fully competent. Some are. Lots are not. Maybe it's time to just keep an eye on the neo-nazis and forget the old relics.

equa yona(Big Bear) said...

ZY, even THAT statement from big O sucks. Demjanjuk and the rest of the guards and torturers and murderers who were cogs in the wheels of the shoa were following orders in good faith, nicht wahr? Again, its a matter of scale. Our minions only tortured and killed a few hundred, but they ALL deserve to be tried-top to bottom. The CIA thugs who tortured in your name and mine faced no prison time or execution for refusing, they could have quit at any time. They have NO excuse, none! And have you heard the O asking for any investigations? I am not saying O is a phony- just our whole self-righteous hypocrtical system, of which he is the current executive.

Patricia said...

Oh, that. Well, yeah. I know. That's been going on a long, long time. I've always thought that the fervent belief that we were so much better than everyone else that we were raised with was what led to some of the fervent opposition to the Vietnam War and the alienation that went with it. We didn't grow up prepared for our country to be perpetuating meaningless death, destruction and atrocities for no logical reason that we could see.

equa yona(Big Bear) said...

ZY- We weren't prepared because they didn't tell us that this is what we do!