Why do we condemn Nazis for "just following orders" but we "support our troops" despite 100,000 dead Iraqis?

Question

We convicted hundreds of Gestapo men of War Crimes, despite their plea that they were just following orders. We said that they should have known better and that "following orders" is not an excuse for War Crimes. Well, if the War in Iraq is "illegal", why does everyone run around saying they "support the troops?" If it was wrong for Nazis to carry out their orders to illegally exterminate jews, aren't our troops wrong too for carrying out an "illegal" war that resulted in thousands of dead Iraqis? Why is there a moral difference between the two? Is it just because they our "ours"? How are we any better that Germans who "supported their troops" and looked the other way during the holocaust?

Answer 1

Did you suddenly turn into a liberal?



Your Industrial Workers of the World card is in the mail.

Answer 2

you make an interesting point, but I am not so sure of just how many Nazi "troops" were convicted of war crimes. Most that were convicted were officers or in the event of troops were those that committed atrocities that went beyond merely following orders.



That being said, I want to add that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was wrong. There were other options.

Answer 3

The majority of those dead Iraqis were killed by the people we were fighting and the ones you support.

Answer 4

We didn't prosecute the rank and file German soldiers after WWII. We went after the leaders. And you're right, we probably should go after Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of those who were behind this. But that doesn't mean we should punish our troops for doing what they were told, unless those orders were specifically improper.

Answer 5

IT is the same...



Our duty is to always question the actions of government.