The post WWII trials saw many many of the accused murders claim that they were “just following orders”. There was always somebody higher up that ordered them to murder people.
What isn’t as well known is that the population, when asked “Why didn’t you try and stop these mass murders?”, replied with “We didn’t know.”
The US military has rules that say you should not follow an illegal order.
And there will always be those who will follow those illegal orders…. IE- klinton “aide” who did such n such and goes to jail while the real guilty ones go merrily on….
“The US military has rules that say you should not follow an illegal order.” – There’s your problem right there: none of the orders were illegal.
The Nazis did a lot of work to build a legal framework for their atrocities. It was all perfectly legal.
Also I asked this question in the forum once: If the US government would have ordered the killing of Japanese people in internment camps – how long would it have taken for the public to “know”?