Terror on Trial

EVERY so often, the world relearns the difficulty of trying a certain kind of monster in court. Nuremberg stands as the eternal example; some people still think they should have been lined up and shot. In The Hague the other day, Milosevic dropped dead, frustrating his prosecutors, and others. Saddam Hussein, of course, continues his judicial theater. Although the judge in the case-currently Raouf Abdel-Rahman-sometimes gets the upper hand. On March 15, Saddam boasted, “I am the head of state.” Judge Abdel-Rahman corrected, “You used to be a head of state. You are a defendant now.”

A half a world away, Abimael Guzmán is also a defendant. In the roster of 20th-century monsters, he has a place. The difference between Guzmán and Saddam Hussein-and the Nazis and Milosevic and the Rwandan butchers and many others-is that Guzmán never gained power. But in his country, Peru, he managed to kill at least 40,000 people, depending on how you do the accounting. He also wreaked $30 billion in material damage, and left a legacy of fear. Not bad for twelve years’work, accomplished by a former philosophy professor at a provincial university.

About the Author

Jay Nordlinger

Jay Nordlinger was a senior editor of National Review and a book fellow at National Review Institute.

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EVERY so often, the world relearns the difficulty of trying a certain kind of monster in court. Nuremberg stands as the eternal example; some people still think they should have been lined up and shot. In The Hague the other day, Milosevic dropped dead, frustrating his prosecutors, and others. Saddam Hussein, of course, continues his judicial theater. Although the judge in the case-currently Raouf Abdel-Rahman-sometimes gets the upper hand. On March 15, Saddam boasted, “I am the head of state.” Judge Abdel-Rahman corrected, “You used to be a head of state. You are a defendant now.”

A half a world away, Abimael Guzmán is also a defendant. In the roster of 20th-century monsters, he has a place. The difference between Guzmán and Saddam Hussein-and the Nazis and Milosevic and the Rwandan butchers and many others-is that Guzmán never gained power. But in his country, Peru, he managed to kill at least 40,000 people, depending on how you do the accounting. He also wreaked $30 billion in material damage, and left a legacy of fear. Not bad for twelve years’work, accomplished by a former philosophy professor at a provincial university.