Convicting Hitler's Goons

Ten former SS goons have been convicted in Italy.

ROME — Italian judges Wednesday convicted 10 former members of the Nazi SS accused of taking part in the 1944 massacre of more than 500 villagers in northern Italy and sentenced them to life in prison, a defense lawyer said.

The verdict was returned after about seven hours of deliberations by the three-judge panel, ANSA said. The defendants, all German men in their 80s, were being tried in absentia in the Italian town of La Spezia. The men are believed to be in Germany.

Luigi Trucco, a lawyer for two of the defendants, expressed disappointment at the ruling and said an appeal is expected.

"You don't want such a ruling to become final," he said. Trucco added he would wait for the written explanations that judges have to give after they made a ruling.

There are two things worth noting here. First, it's worth pointing out that "life imprisonment" in a case like this is sort of an empty sentence; even so, I think it's appropriate, and should serve as an example to all of the al Qaeda goons out there that Western societies never give up when it comes to prosecuting and punishing those who perpetrate attrocities.

Second: what the hell is this Luigi Trucco idiot talking about? What kind of an idiot expresses disappointment at Nazi war criminals being convicted and punished for their crimes, particularly when they've evaded punishment for sixty years!? I realize that defense lawyers always say things like this, but this is ridiculous.