Walking Away from Nuremberg

the long version

Rockwood places his own experience in Haiti within the broader context of the American military doctrine of "command responsibility"--the set of rules that holds individual officers directly responsible for the commission of war crimes under their authority. He traces the evolution of this doctrine from the Civil War, where its principles were first articulated as the "Lieber Code," through the Nuremberg trials following World War II, where they were reaffirmed and applied, to the present. Rockwood shows how in the past half-century the United States has gradually abandoned its commitment to these standards, culminating in recent Bush administration initiatives that in effect would shield American commanders and officials from prosecution for many war crimes. Recent events reflect an "official anti-humanitarian" trend, Rockwood argues, that is at odds with our nation's traditions and principles. [from publisher description].