This fall will be the 60th anniversary of the WW II Nuremburg trials. And it couldn't be more timely. Because while two of the crimes established by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremburg, `War Crimes' and 'Crimes Against Humanity' have passed into public consciousness and understanding, the most important, considered by the IMT to be the supreme international crime seems largely forgotten.
It is CRIMES AGAINST PEACE: "namely, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing."
The four prosecuting nations at the trial were the United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia. The concept of individual responsibility for `Crimes Against Peace', for the waging of a war of aggression, is not some vague international value. It is a standard of international law that the United States was absolutely fundamental in creating.