I thought that that was one of the lamest war criminals I've seen.
Yeah, nobody would like being turned into a cyborg. But nobody would like
being drafted and getting told "we want you to take that hill so we can
win the war. By the way, this is a suicide mission and if you survive you'll
probably have your arms and legs blown off". Yet doing that isn't a war
crime. He didn't make cyborgs out of captured enemies, nor did he make
cyborgs as a form of torture or punishment. He did it to win the war
and as a result, destroyed the lives of people on his own side--which is
pretty much how winning a war works. And cyborgs come out of the war able
to walk and talk and healthy enough to last a hundred years, which many
conscripts do not.
I suppose you could argue that he lied to his volunteers, but that can't be
a war crime by itself (he could have used conscripts, which wouldn't have
made it any better but which is obviously allowed).
The episode also should have ended halfway through. The guy was willing to
go outside and get himself killed out of shame for his war activities. The
cyborg then hits the wrong man and we spend half the episode before... the
guy goes outside and gets himself killed out of shame for his war activities.
Also, what's this about the Doctor not killing when he basically sent a man to
his death in the previous episode and no companions complained about it?
--
Ken Arromdee / arromdee_AT_rahul.net /
http://www.rahul.net/arromdee
Obi-wan Kenobi: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes."
Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no 'try'."