[curiosity]

Whenever these Lakin threads come up, someone always raises the question of whether “just obeying orders” theory works for this situation, and no one ever seems to address head on how it is that at Nuremburg the defendants were held responsible for wrong-doing despite their otherwise legitimate orders.

So are you claiming Lakin was being ordered to commit genocide?

[Springfield Reformer]

No, I’m not. Although that theory might enter the discussion later, presently I am merely asking whether it is appropriate to set forth the duty to obey one’s superior officer as universal and unconditional, when it is well-known that there are conditions that warrant disobedience. Nuremburg certainly represents one class of such conditions, but if there is one there might be others. It just seems illogical to state the proposition as an absolute, when we know it isn’t.