To develop a sense of group cohesion.3. However, the public outcry in the United States following this highly-publicized, controversial trial was such thatPresident Nixongranted him clemency. For example, on October 19th, 2019, Redditor[6] k00ji posted a Rapper Mario meme which received over 11,000 upvotes in /r/okbuddyretard (shown below, left). We were invaders. Forward march. The story you are about to read is one that has been, for the last 70 years, left to wither in the hearts of those few who recall it. These articles require the obedience of LAWFUL orders. He said that he hated this Job Centre. The Nuremberg Trials are most notable for the unsuccessful use of the I was only following orders legal defense. So, to obey, or not to obey? He was sanctioned, and without warm clothes and very little food he fell asleep on the streets and never woke up. As the balance of power shifts away from the people, discord and anger lead to resistance. During the War with France, Congress passed a law making it permissible to seize ships bound for any French Port. Taking the high road is not only the right thing to do; it is in you self-centered interest. Adolph Hitler and the Nazi elite of the infamous Third Reich, however, remain one memorable instance in which good triumphed and evil was publicly held responsible. This represents an increase to an average of99 deaths per day or692 per week, between the start of December 2011 and the end of February 2014 compared with 32 deaths per day/222 per week between January and November 2011. For more information, please see our Despite the Nuremburg Trials being primarily a dissection of the most horrific phase in recent history, and a trial for those held responsible, they became a massive influence military law throughout much of the developed world following the War, and as long as the Nuremburg Principle is upheld it is hoped that aberrations like the My Lai Massacre remain little more than that - aberrations, isolated yet terrible events. If these new benefit cuts come in, there is only 1 thing that will happen and that is the end of the world, simple reason is people will be made homeless because they cant afford to live in their homes so then they will be homeless, they reckon this figure will be as much as 500,000 British people and families, crime will then sky rocket and if 500,000 plus are made homeless where are they supposed to live, this will then cause major health problems and with the NHS as it is it wont be able to handle this, imagine now if just 1 person living on the streets from benefit cuts was to get seriously ill then it would spread like wildfire, imagine if this was an incurable disease then the Nhs could not then cope with this medical epidemic this would then turn into a pandemic and if this could not be cured this would either go world wide or Britain would then have to be destroyed and nuked from the earth in order to stop this from spreading. If youre not doing it already, try wearing a baggy. While Hitler himself and some of his inner circle committed suicide in Berlin, some of the Nazi leaders involved in the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity stood trial in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. With profound regret, we must admit that "I was only following orders" works just as well in America as it did in Nazi Germany. The purpose of Think Left is to present a view of politics from a left-wing perspective. I Dont ThinkSo, The Mexican Fisherman and the InvestmentBanker, How Basic Income could slow Climate Change. The UCMJ actually protects the soldier in this situation as he/she has a moral and legal obligation to the Constitution and not to obey unlawful orders and the people who issue them. Occasionally, the Nuremberg Defense is referred to as the Eichmann defense. Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii told Lt Col Oliver North, the man who carried much of the responsibility for the Affair, that he was breaking his US Oath of Allegiance when he "blindly" followed the orders of President Ronald Reagan. Nazi war criminals. Imagine numerous scenarios in which law enforcement personnel are ordered to enforce laws that both they and you know are unconstitutional and morally wrong. Researchers measured a small, but significant increase in the perceived time between a persons action and outcome when coercion was involved. Similar arguments with respect to UK Service Law and Queen's Regulations are also being made. When you are "following orders" regardless of your rank you are responsible for your actions and as such if instead of resisting your commanding officer you choose to kill an individual you are responsible for that choice. Period. In other cases, the experimenter looked away, while the agent acted on their own volition. The various other courts-martial considered the troops' defence - that they were "only following orders" - in the light of UCMJ. The Court of Military Appeals held that "the justification for acts done pursuant to orders does not exist if the order was of such a nature that a man of ordinary sense and understanding would know it to be illegal." However, the claim, "I was only following . The time between the action and its outcome is typically experienced as a simultaneous event. A December 5th, 2019, Cheems meme posted by Redditor[7] baconater419 received over 14,700 upvotes in /r/dogelore (shown below, right). The three Services are bound by different acts, including the Air Force (Constitution) Act 1919, the Air Force Act 1955, the Naval Discipline Act 1955, the Army Act 1955, the Military Code 1883 and the Armed Forces Act 1993. The Nuremburg Trials proved beyond any doubt that if the excuse of "I was only obeying orders" could have a consequence as horrifying as the Holocaust it was imperative that International Law must prevent such an excuse being used and accepted ever again. Privacy. . [7] Reddit I was just following orders for gods sake! Not everyone disregards the past. Attorney Marr is licensed and practices in both NewHampshire and Massachusetts. A books, movies, and more blog from the staff at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Main. If a low ranking soldier or officer is told that the building is full of insurgents and is ordered to attack it, and later it turns out it's a school, and there are 30 dead kids before the mistake is realized, is following orders a valid defense? An order to commit a crime such as abusing a prisoner of war is obviously unlawful. Researchers at University College London and Universit libre de Bruxelles in Belgium arrived at this conclusion by investigating how coercion could change someones sense of agency, a psychological phenomenon that refers to ones awareness of their actions causing some external outcome. The military oath taken at the time of induction into the military is as follows: "I,____________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Law enforcement personnel become the face of cruelty and tyranny as they are required to enforce edicts both they and the people know are illegal and immoral. Spread person-to-person. The defense I was only following orders is sometimes referred to as the Nuremberg defense. Since power seized is rarely relinquished, eventual totalitarian oppression of the population is inevitable. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. ", Using your tongue to tie a knot in a cherry stem, I fell asleep to the lullaby of rat-a-tat-tat, Notes on ruining the beauty of barren places by being there, Vaclav Havel's address to the US Congress, 21 February 1990. Refusing to follow the illegal directive of the employer could fall into that public policy exception and the employee may also have some protection under certain whistleblower statutes that the employee can discuss with an employment attorney. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a0f4feab99dd5316634ea1c890247292" );document.getElementById("d4c257114e").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Program Schedule WJRB 95.1 FM Saturday 8:00AM & 9:30AM Sunday 2:30PM & 7:00PM, Cycles of History Ignored I was only following orders. Right face. The post inspired similar edits featuring other popular characters, particularly in ironic meme communities. This is modified by the fact that under QRs personnel are specifically forbidden to commit any war crimes under any circumstances. This non-excuse became infamous during the Nuremberg Trials after World War II. Medication may be game-changer, wait for it. Vaccine less protective, no return to normal. Article 90 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) outlines the crime of willful disobedience by a military member a superior commissioned officer. On September 2nd, 2019, Redditor[3] TheFebrezeWizard posted a Lego Yoda meme in which they edited Lego Yoda into the black and white photograph of Hermann Gring during the Nuremberg trials (shown below; original post no longer available). Colin Powell, who was In this test, the agent can shock or take money from the victim, either acting on orders or by their own choice. In a 1962 letter, as a last-ditch effort for clemency, Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann wrote that he and other low-level officers were "forced to serve as mere instruments," shifting the. Similarly, if an employee were to at the bequest of her boss defraud a customer or vendor, she could be personally liable for the harm committed and possibly be found guilty of a crime. They envy China's forcible vaccinations. For example, in New Hampshire a manager acting on behalf of his corporate employer in firing an employee that legitimately complained about sexual harassment by the owner could be found liable under the state employment discrimination laws along with the corporate employer for his participation in the illegal retaliation. One would have to establish that not following said orders would result in immediate serious bodily injury or death (or a reasonable fear of such) and that there was no reasonable way to avoid following the orders or alternative course of action available. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Article 33 of the Rome Statute,[2] which established the International Criminal Court, allows the Nuremberg defense to relieve an individual of criminal responsibility provided: This principle, one of many drawn up in the run up to the Nuremberg trials, states: Nuremberg Principle IV was disputed in Canada when Jeremy Hinzman attempted to claim refugee status there after deserting the US army. Right shoulder arms. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. pylon makes some interesting points about the excuses used by war criminals following the Second World War. Everybody is not the storybook hero who can stand up to a whole governmental system and a whole military, as a young recruit, on moral grounds. Vaccine protective, return to normal. Haggard said they used moderately painful, but tolerable, shocks. Milgram feigned shocks up to 450 volts. A private soldier was permitted the defence I had to do it or I would have been shot. Now, are these boys war criminals or are they too a sort of victim of the Nazi system? The legal precedent set by the Nuremberg Principle IV states: "The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him." It is very easy to cast those such as Heinrich Himmler and Josef Mengele as war criminals that deserve to be hung, but can you say the same for those that truly were just following orders and those who had no say in the matter? So spreading a big lie like Nazi Germany should be avoided, and the lying sycophants of the disgraced, twice impeached insurrection at should be removed from any positions of authority to avoid going down a path of killing people of a different ethnic background. Delivery & Pickup Options - 3 reviews of Korea Taqueria "Been following one of the owners since his food truck days and I always loved the Korean fusion from Paper Mill Foods spurrito truck so it's great to see a brick and mortar with another fun fusion! Ethical problems arise when the mechanisms of government are perverted to grant excessive authority and privilege to the ruling class, who then enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else. Roman Catholic Church doctrine says that to the extent that one's free will is limited, one's responsibility for those actions is just as limited. That defense was first used in a 1799 naval blockade case and subsequently has been used in military cases related to the Vietnam War more often than in any other conflict. He died of hypothermia. But does the military member have a duty to DISOBEY unlawful orders including orders of senior officers, Secretary of Defense and even the President of the United States? And what do the Job Centre staff say? In fact, referring to what Col North should have obeyed: UCMJ is yet again being invoked now by some opponents of the recent conflict in Iraq, who claim that the conflict contravened the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions and International Law. All content copyright original author unless stated otherwise. I was only following orders of my superiors was a not an adequate defense for Nazi war criminals. Until one day you are given a notice, you were conscripted into the Waffen-SS, along with another 200,000 Wehrmacht guys, to be sent as guards to a concentration camp. This isn't a dress rehearsal for totalitarianism, it is totalitarianism. Court will convene at 9:30 a.m. As a junior, she plans to graduate early at the end of this year, with goals to go to Lincoln University next year and . The legal precedent set by theNuremberg Principle IVstates: The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.. Shortage of health care workers, import more. I was just following orders for gods sake. For example, if an Army officer tells a sergeant to prepare his soldiers to clean the barracks for an upcoming inspection, there is the belief the order will be followed. That indisputable admonition is commonly found in childhood parables, writings of scholars, clever sayings of gurus, and advice from our parents and elders. During the trials, the "superior orders" defense gained such significant notoriety that it started being used interchangeably with "Nuremberg defense" and associated with the German phrase "Befehl ist Befehl" ("an order is an order" or "only following orders"). If people acting under orders really do feel reduced responsibility, this seems important to understand. I was only following orders, a defense that fails in earthly courts, will most assuredly also fail in the highest court of all. This inspired, if that is the word, Hannah Arendt to coin the phrase, banality of evil. The first major UCMJ-related incident following Nuremburg was during inquiries and subsequent courts-martial following the My Lai Massacre of 16 March, 1968. Recruits are taught to obey orders from their superiors immediately and without question, right from day one of boot camp. Your email address will not be published. The maltreatment of prisoners is a crime under both international lawand the Uniform Code of Military Justice (seeArticle 93 Cruelty and Maltreatment). ", How this radical idea can make growth optional, Experiences and Thoughts of an Angry Carer. Right face. The Nuremburg trials convicted many officers, generals and SS-Obergruppenfhrers who used orders as an excuse for their conduct in the war. That is, when people act under orders, they seem to experience less agency over their actions and outcomes than when they choose for themselves, Haggard said. In United States v. Keenan, the accused (Keenan) was found guilty of murder after he obeyed an order to shoot and kill an elderly Vietnamese citizen. It depends on the order. Cookie Notice I went through four years of ROTC in high school and college. Vicious dictators like Stalin and Mao, together responsible for killing over 100 million people, died of natural causes. Cool.. Its amazing how you can try and try to get something, not even come close, and then all of a sudden it clicks and all goes well.. Be very afraid. It has doubtless prevented people since the War from following illegal orders. Probably the most famous case of the "I was only following orders" defense was the court-martial of First Lieutenant William Calley for his part in the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968. Thus the argument, "I was only following orders" became difficult to prove - no-one was really sure who was competent enough to give orders, nor of the mental state (considering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) of those who followed them. Not only should an unlawful order not be obeyed, obeying such an order can result in criminal prosecution. Although pleas from the unknown person could be heard, including mentions of a heart condition, Milgrams study said his volunteers continued to shock the learner when ordered to do so. Adolf Eichmann was one of the most prominent Nazis to use this defense at his trial (held in Israel in 1961). : state or condition especially with regard to functioning or repair things were in terrible order b : a proper, orderly, or functioning condition their passports were in order the phone is out of order 10 a : a written direction to pay money to someone b : a commission to purchase, sell, or supply goods or to perform work c They are takeout only and they just opened so wait times may be long! Worse I hear from bosses that they expect officers to follow orders without any discussion and especially without any dissent. Masks not useful. i held it for a few thousand feet and didnt spin too much. http://www.wssob.com/000ttwsb.html (Insignia section). Die Verarbeitung des Produkts erfolgt nur auf Bestellung des Kunden hin. If someone goes above and beyond the orders instilling excessive cruelty in that case I would agree that they should be charged. People had passed him and thought that he was asleep. Fire hundreds of nurses and techs who refuse vaccination. It is time to break the cycle. Shortage of health care workers, import more. Required fields are marked *. Haggards team found that brain activity in response to this tone is indeed dampened when being coerced. As the haughty nephew did not follow, he continued, "You only care about the' things that you can use, and therefore arrange them in the following order: Money, supremely . The Nuremberg Trials of German war criminals after World war II determined that this is no defense, and that some orders are illegal and must not be followed. And now, lawyers for some of the Army reservists charged with abusing prisoners in Iraq say they're innocent for the same reason. Everything2 is brought to you by Everything2 Media, LLC. My point in this is that all those involved in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany were not war criminals, benign or otherwise, but were simply boys forced into cooperation with the Nazi war machine. Under British Law, Servicemen are directed to "observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty," (see the node on the RAF Oath of Allegiance) as well as those of their senior officers. Only Following Orders. Place yourself in the boots of a citizen in Germany, 1940. When Yale received reams of Milgrams documents in the 2000s, other psychologists started to criticize the famous electric-shock study when they sifted through the notes more closely. That defense was first used in a 1799 naval blockade case and subsequently has been used in military cases related to the Vietnam War more often than in any other conflict. While it would be a difficult situation that the employee is placed in, she should speak with employment counsel to stay on the right side of the law while protecting her interest. In both cases - and in others - the emphasis is on lawful orders only. However, when President John Adams wrote the authorization order, he wrote that U.S. Navy ships were authorized to seize any vessel bound for a French port, or traveling from a French port. involved in the inquiry, writes in his autobiography that many of the officers and even senior NCOs - the "backbone of the armed forces" - were in many cases just filling dead men's shoes, given their rank purely because there was a requirement for someone to fill the position. The term is now essentially synonymous with the phrase "I was only following orders", a phrase that has been used in defending accused war criminals for centuries. But the lesson stayed with me. BIG: James Clapper Admits He Was Following Orders From His 'Commander-In-Chief, President Obama' By Elizabeth Vaughn , RedState In the transcript and the video below, Obama's Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, speaks to CNN's Jim Sciutto and makes the stunning admission that he'd been following Obama's orders - and . Following orders that are immoral is an excuse only in a totalitarian nation. If you refuse to comply with an unconstitutional law, what will be their response? Nazis accused of war crimes said it at Nuremberg "I was only following orders." Soldiers like Lt. William Calley accused of atrocities at My Lai in Vietnam tried it, too. The result? Probably the most famous case of the "I was only following orders" defense was the court-martial of First Lieutenant William Calley for his part in the My Lai Massacre on March 16, 1968. If they use force to compel your compliance, what will you do? Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Several members claimed that they were only following the orders of military intelligence officials. | Apr 10, 2019 | Employment Law. Perry said Milgrams experiments were far less controlled than originally thought and introduced variables that appeared to goose the numbers. Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. But all German military personal from the lowest private to the highest field-marshall had a pay-book with a number of absolute commitments in the front. Vaccine protection durable. The United States Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) 809.ART.90 (20) New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Doctors are independent professionals. As you consider your response, remember the lessons of history. But, our study does suggest that this claim might potentially correspond to the basic experience that the person had of their action at the time, Haggard said. If an employee is fired for refusing to take part in an illegal act such as: (a) firing a subordinate in retaliation for her raising a legitimate discrimination claim against the owner; (b) refusing to defraud a customer or a vendor; or (c) refusing to lie to a state or federal official during a governmental audit; the employee would have a wrongful discharge claim under New Hampshire law. (Interestingly, the soldier who gave Keenan the order, Corporal Luczko, was acquitted by reason of insanity). These have to be strong examples of a direct violation of the Constitution and the UCMJ and not the military members own opinion. Nevertheless, humanity has habitually and often flagrantly ignored the obvious realities of past misdeeds regardless of how costly or disastrous. The problem, really, is who are you ultimately accountable to. A platoon from 11th Brigade, led by First Lieutenant William Calley, herded 327 old men, women and children - even babies - from the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai into a ditch and shot them all dead. A true retrospective examination of mankinds past, however, teaches us a valuable lesson. However, enlisted boys usually did not. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/how-the-nazis-defense-of-just-following-orders-plays-out-in-the-mind, criticize the famous electric-shock study. But that same year Stanley Milgram, a Yale University psychologist, conducted a series of famous experiments that tested whether ordinary folks would inflict harm on another person after following orders from an authoritative figure. Haggard said his teams study was more transparent. Sorry, Jeff, I couldnt understand that. Prior work had found that brain activity is dampened when people are forced to follow orders.