The subject of how to deal with war crimes has plagued the moral conscience of civilized man for millennia. In more modern times, after World War II, the allies debated how to treat the Nazi leaders. What emerged from that debate, the Nuremberg Trials, would become the precedent for post war justice. But how we deal with war crimes in the terrorist era is another matter. Where war is ongoing, where civilian destruction is part of the enemy's plan, and the news cycles feeds martyrdom, how do we proceeded? The debate over Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and how the mastermind of 9/11 should be tired reflects this debate.
Few know the subject better than
William Shawcross. A distinguished journalist and author, his father, Hartley Shawcross, was Britain's lead prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. His brilliant analysis of the current situation is
Justice and the Enemy: Nuremberg, 9/11, and the Trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
.
My conversation with William Shawcross:
Click here to listen on your iphone or ipad
