It’s seen as a cowardly defense in that you argue against any personal resonsibility for something you were ordered to do. In the particular case of the Nuremb

It’s seen as a cowardly defense in that you argue against any personal resonsibility for something you were ordered to do. In the particular case of the Nuremberg tribunals, no the superior orders defense did not work because the Allies had jointly decided to not allow it. However, during the My Lai massacre of 1968 US soldiers successfully used the defense to reduce their sentences when they were court martialed.