I don't approve of war crimes trials, because I think there is no such thing as a war crime. The function of armed forces are to smash thing up and hurt people. The purpose of all this is to intimidate enemies.

So if you get your hands on a true enemy, the best thing to do is just shoot him dead on the spot. Two rounds dead center in the chest or one in the back of the head does it every time.

At the end of World War II, I would have had the armed forces simply execute by pistol or firing squad every captured major nazi or jap leader, with the exception of the Japanese emperor, whom we needed for building a stable peace on societal structure in postwar Japan. Nor would I have put Slobodan Milosevic or Saddam Hussein on trial.

This trial coming up in Iraq will be seen by the Arab world as little more than a farce run by our puppet government in Baghdad. Is it in fact our puppet government? Just what in hell else could it be, so long as our troops are propping it up? Bear in mind, I have no problem with maintaining a puppet regime in Iraq, if it suits our national purposes. But I like to call things by their rightful names, without euphemisms.

So go ahead and argue with me over this. I'm thick skinned.

Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI