Protesting the Crime of War

BEN FERENCZ graduated from Harvard law school with a degree in international law. During world War Two he was assigned to the staff of General Patton, for whom he cleaned latrines, among other duties. After the war, he was appointed the lead prosecutor at the Nuremburg war crimes trials. He painstakingly, thoroughly presented evidence which rather easily convicted twenty two German officers and doctors of war crimes, crimes involving the extermination of one million people in concentration camps, and the slaughter of civilians. At another trial at about the same time, German officers were convicted of battlefield war crimes. Most noteworthy of these was Joachim Peiper, Hitler's favorite tank unit commander who orchestrated the last ditch German assault known as the "Battle of the Bulge", and who gave the order to massacre eighty four American prisoners of war in Malmady, France. Peiper's death sentence was later commuted for political reasons, and he died, at age sixty one, in France in 1976. Mr. Ferencz, now ninety nine years old, lives in Florida, has written several books, and is quite willing to talk about the war, war in general, his experiences in it, and his philosophy of war. He unabashedly contends, as do many people, that all war is a crime, an international crime, which has been unjustifiably glorified for centuries, and which must somehow be outlawed and eliminated from human culture to ensure the survival of the human species. He further contends that all nations commit war crimes in all wars, the United States included. In fact, about two weeks after the Malmady massacre, American soldiers massacred eighty German prisoners who were trying to surrender, unarmed, waving white flags. This event was not acknowledged in post war American history classes or history books, and was in fact covered up for a long time, until quite recently. In General Patton's diary, now owned by the Library of Congress, Patton wrote something to the effect: "received word that fifty German prisoners have been unfortunately murdered. I hope this episode can be covered up." It was, and is still seldom mentioned in American history courses or books. Ferencz eschews the notion that the generation which fought and won World War Two for the United States, of which he was a member, should be called "the greatest generation." The greatest generation, he insists, are members of any generation who oppose all wars, the pacifists, those who tell the truth about the true causes of war, about national greed, imperialism, and aggression, those who are willing to be prosecuted for refusing to fight. He especially lauds the "Hell no, we won't go" Viet Nam War protesters, the "hippies" who staged protests in the streets of America and on college campuses in the late nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies, so reviled at the time as traitors by the hawkish conservative establishment. This is of particular interest to me, because during the Viet Nam war I was in early adolescence, and by 1968, when I was thirteen, it was obvious to me that not only was the Viet Nam war unwinnable for the United States, but that it was unjust and corrupt. I agreed with the protesters I saw nightly on television, and with Walter Cronkite, who turned against the war after the Tet offensive in early 1968. I secretly admired the hippie protesters, wanted to join, but was too young, too timid, and didn't dare express these thoughts to anyone, especially my parents, for fear of being sincerely reprimanded, and perhaps placed in time out, the dog house, prison, or worse. To oppose the viet Nam war was to be a traitor to one's country, labeled a hippie, a radical, an outcast. I knew then, as I know now; the war protesters were right, and the Viet Nam war was wrong. Finally, I got my chance to protest an unjust American imperialistic war in 1991, when the United States attacked and conquered Iraq, driving Saddam Hussein from power, and initiating a thirty year nightmare, in which the United states is still mired today. Fondly I recall walking with five hundred other people down the main street in a major college town, wrapped in an American flag, carrying a sign which said: "no war for oil." The sidewalks were lined with pro war patriots hurling insults at us - protesting war is never popular among the patriotically righteous - and I lost control when some big dude called me a 'traitor". I walked towards him, ready to defend my honor and patriotism. He was twice my size, and would have killed me, post haste. I was a college instructor at the time, and by some good fortune, or divine intervention, one of my students, a black belt martial artist, intervened, and firmly suggested that I continue walking and protesting to my heart's content, and that I ignore the pro war folks. Good idea. I came to my senses, complied, and saved my skin and probably my life. I wish I still had my flag and my sign. If I had,they would now be proudly displayed on my living room wall, with a new sign reading"I told you so, you imperialistic bastards." I am proud of how I felt in 1968, what I did in 1991, and how I feel about the American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan today. It was wrong then, and its wrong now. The events of the past twenty eight years clearly prove that. Finally, motivated by President Trump's visit to their country, the Iraqis have the good sense to demand that American forces leave their country. Good for them. I hope I never get the chance to protest another war, but I suspect I will. After all, I am an American, and a patriotic one. I am sure that Ben Ferencz would agree, and that likelihood puts me in good company.