Journal No. 10 (20th Week): The War Criminals

It is quite common for people to make derogatory remarks on war criminals. Some called them warmongers; others called them pesky creatures of mankind. After the Second World War, there were dictators in a number of countries who caused great loss of human lives, and people were quick to indict them for causing genocides. Some even called them the most reviled crooks of human civilization. However, the concept of war criminal is nebulous. Hideki Tojo and others were trialed as war criminals after the end of Second World War. However, the Japanese defence lawyers argued that they were trialed as war criminals because Japan lost the war. Had America lost the war, the American generals would be trialed as war criminals, so said the defence lawyers. They cited the examples of American generals who killed the Red Indians and Genghis Khan who killed millions in his conquest. The lawyers queried why were they not trialed as war criminals? No one could give a satisfactory answer the question.