The Nuremberg Trial could have satisfied most people, and certainly the public in the Allied nations, if it had been conducted solely for the purpose of meting out justice for the crimes committed during World War II. The prosecutors, however, had even loftier goals. They wanted to make an example of the Germans that would discourage people from making war in the future, or at least prevent them from committing the types of atrocities against civilians and combatants that were routine under the Nazis.

In hindsight, these objectives appear utopian. Aggressors never expect to lose the wars they start, so they should not be expected to worry much about the consequences of their actions. Even if they were to behave humanely—if such a thing is possible during a war—losers of a future war could hardly expect to be treated...