The Third World War

The American public is not being prepared for the trial of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, scheduled to open August 17 in Moscow, before the Military Collegium of the Supreme Soviet Tribunal.

Unless we have learned, or are instructed, otherwise, we will inevitably think of this “trial” in the sense of our own juridical tradition. A criminal trial, as we understand it, has a twofold objective: to establish the facts concerning an action at issue; and to apply the law to those facts. It is the business of the judge to apply the law. It is the business of the jury —after hearing one version from the prosecution, another from the defense —to establish the facts.

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James Burnham

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The American public is not being prepared for the trial of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, scheduled to open August 17 in Moscow, before the Military Collegium of the Supreme Soviet Tribunal.

Unless we have learned, or are instructed, otherwise, we will inevitably think of this “trial” in the sense of our own juridical tradition. A criminal trial, as we understand it, has a twofold objective: to establish the facts concerning an action at issue; and to apply the law to those facts. It is the business of the judge to apply the law. It is the business of the jury —after hearing one version from the prosecution, another from the defense —to establish the facts.