Moral justification for the execution of criminals of war?

[bennyboy]

I’ve always wondered about obsessions with time in the subject of capital punishment.  If they’re sentenced to die, does it matter if it takes years and years to properly carry that sentence out?

I'd think so.  Technically, if you pulled a plug on a 95 year-old nazi war criminal who's dying of terminal cancer without his consent, that's an execution.  Nobody's going to be satisfied by the justice of that, though.

The idea that someone has deprived others of the best years of their lives, but should live out his remaining days under the care and supervision of a prison, with all the many rights and privileges that entails, seems unjust, no? What if your wife or children were slaughtered by an axe murderer because of the color of their skin-- would you not rather see him drawn and quartered than let them live out their days relatively happily, watching TV re-runs and eating food that you pay for?

There's a lot of talk about not wanting to live in a savage society. But savagery and downright evil are important parts of the human experience and instinct, and there's no reason they can't have their place, too.

Here's a fair punishment for the rape and slaughter of a child-- 1 hour in a room with the father, no questions asked.