“If the American statesmen and bureaucrats who designed the war in Vietnam were held to the standards of Nuremberg and Manila then there would be a very strong possibility that they would come to the same end that General Yamashita did.”

General Telford Taylor — Chief prosecuting counsel for the U.S. at the Nuremberg trials

May 2 2021 — In this famous interview, Noam Chomsky argued that “If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.” What do you think? Do you agree? Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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In one of his most important books — THE TRIAL OF HENRY KISSINGER — Christopher Hitchens remarks that:

“it is not every day that a senior American soldier and jurist delivers the opinion that a large portion of his country’s political class should probably be hooded and blindfolded and dropped through a trapdoor on the end of a rope.”

Noam Chomsky went even further. Three decades ago, one of the most influent intellectuals of our time wrote:

“If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged. By violation of the Nuremberg laws I mean the same kind of crimes for which people were hanged in Nuremberg.

And Nuremberg means Nuremberg and Tokyo. So first of all you’ve got to think back as to what people were hanged for at Nuremberg and Tokyo. And once you think back, the question doesn’t even require a moment’s waste of time.

For example, one general at the Tokyo trials, which were the worst, General Yamashita, was hanged on the grounds that troops in the Philippines, which were technically under his command (though it was so late in the war that he had no contact with them — it was the very end of the war and there were some troops running around the Philippines who he had no contact with), had carried out atrocities, so he was hanged.

Well, try that one out and you’ve already wiped out everybody.”

Obviously, few people know enough about modern history to understand each event Chomsky is referring to. I will take this opportunity to tell you a quick story.

During an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” [Dec. 14, 2014] US Vice-President Dick Cheney claimed that the U.S. did not prosecute Japanese soldiers for waterboarding.

Chuck Todd: “When you say waterboarding is not torture then why did we prosecute Japanese soldiers?”

Former vice president Richard B. Cheney: “Not for waterboarding. (…) It’s a really cheap shot, Chuck, to even try to draw a parallel between the Japanese who were prosecuted for war crimes after World War II and what we did with waterboarding three individuals — all of whom are guilty and participated in the 9/11 attacks.”

As The Washington Post concluded correctly, Cheney deserves Three Pinocchios!

While talking to reporters at a 2007 campaign event, John Mc Cain correctly pointed out that:

“The Japanese were tried, convicted and hung for war crimes committed against American POWs. Among those charges for which they were convicted was waterboarding.”

What do you think?

—

“For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?” — Matthew 7 (1-3)

Noam Chomsky – The Crimes of U.S. Presidents

REFERENCES

If the Nuremberg Laws were Applied… — Noam Chomsky

Yes, We Did Execute Japanese Soldiers for Waterboarding American POWs — Mother Jones

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Noam Chomsky – The Crimes of U.S. Presidents