Robert H. Jackson Quotes
We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that they started it. And we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into a trial of the causes of the war, for our position is that no grievances or policies will justify resort to aggressive war. It is utterly renounced and condemned as an instrument of policy.
Robert Houghwout Jackson, 1892-1954, Chief Prosecutor, Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, U. S. Attorney General (Democrat), U. S. Supreme Court Justice, Statement, August 12, 1945
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The German war plan called for attacking France through Belgium. However, Belgium was intent on remaining neutral. International law prohibited a neutral country from allowing troops of either side to enter and maneuver in its territory. The Kaiser and the German leaders know they were violating International law and rationalized it by stating that after they defeated France, they would treat Belgium well.
Although Emperor Hirohito had the status of a God, and his Prime Minister and Chief of the Military testified that they had never disobeyed the Emperor {587278}, there was a thorough attempt to whitewash the Emperor’s role—{587279}. Few Japanese, even years later would suggest that Hirohito might bear some personal responsibility. The Mayor was one of the few who made the statement of the obvious. He received 181 death threats and he was shot shortly thereafter by a right wing supporter of the Emperor’s.
This speech was given 5 months before President Georg W, Bush initiated the invasion of Iraq. Politicians either supported the idea of an Iraq War or simply remained silent lest they be labeled unpatriotic. Obama not only opposed the war, but by 2007 most Americans had also come to believe that Bush’s invasion was a “dumb” and “rash” war.
The English were at War with Napoleon and Denmark was neutral. British leaders feared that Denmark might either ally themselves with Napoleon or provide him with ships from their well equipped fleet. The English decided on a preemptive attack on Denmark and Paget and other Captains were ordered to Denmark. When they arrived they were ordered to bombard Copenhagen and force the Danes to surrender. When this happened, the British seized the Danish ships and simply took them as war prizes. The issues of the morality and wisdom of preemptive attacks, as with the Americans in the Iraq war, was thoroughly debated but the government view prevailed to the shame of most Englishmen.
Robert Houghwout Jackson was an American attorney and judge who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He had previously served as United States Solicitor General and United States Attorney General, and is the only person to have held all three of those offices. Jackson was also notable for his work as Chief United States Prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals following World War II.
