Monday, April 17, 2006
The Nuremberg Line: Natanz as Guernica
I only wish I were being cynical.
Saddam Hussein invaded a nation though unprovoked, he engaged in torture, and he used illegal weapons. But the calls for him to be tried by an international tribunal have been few. Why? Because almost every nation of any size has done the same, many even in the post-war era. France in Vietnam and Algeria, China in Vietnam, Britain in Iraq (the Falklands War also remains insufficiently justified), the USSR in Hungary and its successor quasi-tyranny in Chechnya... the list is endless. Since many a leader can imagine himself/herself in the dock, none are eager to do this on a regular basis.
Nuremberg represented a combination of three major factors: (1) unprovoked war destructive of the international order, (2) genocide, and (3) cruelty against civilians. Iran is China's primary source of oil. Europe is heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil. The international order will be substantively disrupted by an attack.
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