CAPSULE COMMENTARY: “U.S. War Crimes”

“The U.N. war-crimes prosecutor is examining evidence of possible war crimes by NATO pilots during the bombing of Yugoslavia last spring. Civilians were killed when U.S. pilots attacked a bridge as a passenger train was crossing, a refugee convoy, and a television station. U.S. officials are outraged over such audacity. White House spokesman Jim Fallin termed the possible investigation “completely unjustified.” Is the U.S. government suggesting that suspected war criminals should be able to determine their own guilt or innocence? Is it suggesting that this is the standard that should have been used at Nuremberg? There’s no word yet on whether the war-crimes tribunal is going to investigate the U.S. government’s intentional targeting of civilians at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”