Denjanjuck gets 5 years

Ninety-one-year-old John Demjanjuck has been sentenced to five years in jail for his part in war crimes during World War 11. He was tried and acquitted in Israel many years ago. He has been hounded relentlessly by the Nazi hunters, harassed, deported from the United States and tried and convicted in Munich Germany.

When will it ever end? Never. Suspected Nazi war criminals will be tracked down and attempts will be made to try them in courts for crimes committed sixty to seventy years ago. No rational arguments can be mustered to stop these haunted hunters. Appeals for mercy will be trumped by the call for justice. Urging forgiveness after these long years of hiding and fear is met with cries of revenge. Calls for compassion will be countered by exhortations for retaliation.

We have seen war crimes against civilians by Americans go unpunished. The My Lai massacre of Vietnam women and children saw the American leaders of the killing having charges dismissed and a few months in prison for one.

Police officers in the United States are routinely punished with no more than a slap for the killing of African Americans suspected of crimes.

The President of the United States orders unmanned drone bombers to drop bombs in Afghanistan and Pakistan killing unarmed women and children.

The murdering of Jews, Poles, homosexuals, clergy, mentally and physically disabled civilians by the Nazis was a horrendous crime. Nothing can be gained by the pursuing of suspected war criminals. Nothing changes except continued de-humanizing and brutality, more failure of the highest dimensions of human existence, mercy, forgiveness and compassion.