Lt. William Calley: "Sorry about My-Lai"

[Flying Pig]

I don't say that nobody breaks the rules, but most of the time it's either just hitting something you thought was civvy-free or missing the target. If the civillians decide to resist the occupation, they cease by definiton to be civillians. Also, a lot of the time the weapons involved mean that hitting one target means hitting everything near it. Mind you, Kosovo was a bit of a mess anyway.

 

[innonimatu]

I don't say that nobody breaks the rules, but most of the time it's either just hitting something you thought was civvy-free or missing the target. If the civillians decide to resist the occupation, they cease by definiton to be civillians.

But what if they ignore the government set up by the invaders and organize their own? In fact, what would happen if they merely ignored every order given by the invaders? Would they cease to be civilians and become valid targets?

Were, say, the participants in Ghandi's Salt March members of an insurrection and valid targets for military attack? Was therefore the Qissa Khwani bazaar massacre, where british troops murdered some 400 unarmed indians for the crime of refusing to obey the government, legitimate? And without that kind attitude, how could the British Empire retain control over India? Why were the soldiers who refused to fire court-martialed?

 

[aelf]

I've already said - what this guy did was consistent with what I've seen with (for want of a better word) shell-shock, whereas what the Nazis did could only have been deliberate. The degree to which the squaddies are to be punished is up for debate.

So in other words you have no actual reason to believe that the German soldier was more clear-headed than this guy?

 

[Flying Pig]

But what if they ignore the government set up by the invaders and organize their own? In fact, what would happen if they merely ignored every order given by the invaders? Would they cease to be civilians and become valid targets?

No, they would just be annoying. Nobody would shoot them. It's only a problem when they shoot at the invaders
[/QUOTE]

So in other words you have no actual reason to believe that the German soldier was more clear-headed than this guy?

Apart from the fact that the Germans did it as standard, no. However, the fact that the Germans did it all the time makes it hard to tell, so I lean on the side of guilty, because it's better to punish a few shell-shocks than it is to let thousands of realy criminals go. I'm nor sure what rank this German was, but officers of rank tend to be less prone as well, being more experienced and more solid people to begin with

 

[aelf]

Apart from the fact that the Germans did it as standard, no. However, the fact that the Germans did it all the time makes it hard to tell, so I lean on the side of guilty, because it's better to punish a few shell-shocks than it is to let thousands of realy criminals go. I'm nor sure what rank this German was, but officers of rank tend to be less prone as well, being more experienced and more solid people to begin with

Have you not read the article? The Germans were fighting too, weren't they? So, again, how are the two situations different in principle?

Looks like you still have no actual reason to believe that they're any different.

 

[Flying Pig]

It was German policy to do this, and thus even sane ones would have done it. It's not American policy (although a few officers did blur the line) to burn villages

 

[Formaldehyde]

Au contraire. It was official US policy in Vietnam to burn any village to the ground which was even suspected of being "VC".

 

[Flying Pig]

Hmmm... in that case I'll concede that it's a war crime, but I still think the guy wasn't right when he did it.

 

[nonconformist]

"Search and Destroy"

 

[jessiecat]

"Search and Destroy"

"I luv the smell of napalm in the morning".

 

[Ayatollah So]

Browsing Wikipedia to look up this guy brings up an interesting paragraph.

Many in America were outraged by Calley's sentence; Georgia's governor Jimmy Carter instituted "American Fighting Man's Day" and asked Georgians to drive for a week with their lights on. Indiana's governor asked all state flags to be flown at half-staff for Calley, and Utah's and Mississippi's governors also disagreed with the verdict. The Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, New Jersey, and South Carolina legislatures requested clemency for Calley. Alabama's governor George Wallace visited Calley in the stockade and requested that Nixon pardon him. 79% of Americans polled disagreed with Calley's verdict.

Gosh that just makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over
I wonder if anyone polled Libyans after whussname's conviction?