MATTERS OF EXECUTION

Dept. of Justice

With all due respect for John Haymond, the author of “Crime or Culture?” in the Autumn 2021 issue of MHQ, I do not consider the decision to try the Dakota tribe members as war criminals a close call. Military justice (and justice in general) serves many purposes besides the culpability of individual defendants. It is necessary to the good order and discipline of the combatant forces and imposes a framework of conduct that turns what would otherwise be an unruly mob into a military unit.

I would argue that