War Crimes

Even after 69 years of life experience, There is one issue that I cannot help you with, As my opinion on it is so muddled and indecisive. And I will have to leave it up to you, To find a thread of thought that you can live with and defend, Hopefully more robustly than the one I cannot quite grasp. When I consider Nelson Mandela and his Ideas on Truth and Reconciliation, I favor his approach over that of having no room for forgiveness, When it comes to the things people do to each other in times of war. Yet I wonder if it was the man not the idea that made people put aside, Their thirst for revenge and the need for killing when peace is in ascendency over war. Then I think of Hitler and my heart starts to harden and mercy, Seems out of my reach. Now we have the war in Ukraine and the call for war crime trials, And my thoughts are betwixt and between, With the only thing I am sure of is that the Russian invasion, Was never a viable option, For anyone who understood that for every action there are consequences, That should be considered, And it is the price of world order for Russia to be stopped. But as for whether calls to hold individuals to account, As a prerequisite for peace, I am almost but not quite sure if it is a mistake. And finally do I think we should look to truth and reconciliation As something to consider when the War in Ukraine is is over, Of course I do Yet do I think there are individuals who need to be made examples of - Probably. Would I like to decide which ones - no! As I have no way of knowing if doing so could be sowing the seeds Of another war. So, to conclude, I think we must never stop hoping that, The next time a war ends, We choose a path that lessons the chance of a repeat performance.