Who is Dr. Stjepan Mestrovic?

I’ve never heard of Dr. Stjepan Mestrovic, but there is a fascinating interview of him by Dahr Jamail. Mestrovic teaches at Texas A&M but has spent a lot of time studying war crimes and testifying at such trials. He actually seems to be someone to whom we should pay attention.

Basically, Mestrovic asserts that, as a matter of policy, our Army commits war crimes and makes sure that only low level soldiers are brought to “justice” should the crimes become known outside of Army circles. And, he claims that this policy is not new. In fact, it can be traced to our early days; Tocqueville wrote that, unlike the Spanish, English or French, we passed laws that validated our mistreatment of others, such as the Indians.

In addition to historical antecedents we have a problem in the fact that we as a democratic country have to live with an army that must be authoritarian. And in an authoritarian world, some are bosses (in the worst sense of that word) and some are workers. Mestrovic claims that the soldiers at Abu Ghraib slept in cells (as did the detainees) and did not have access to toilet facilities. Mestrovic goes on to point out that terrorists who are tried in our courts will have more rights than soldiers tried by court-martial.

Secrecy is necessary in battle, but Mestrovic believes that secrecy can be carried too far. In just about all courts-martial any attempt by the defense to introduce the Rules of Engagement under which the accused operated is thwarted by the court.

Mestrovic urges us to adhere to international law and to stop trying only underlings; the brass bears the responsibility for war crimes and should be brought to trial.