who the hell brought Palestine into this, this whataboutism is at the level of Republicans
do you support the invasion of Iraq for the explicit purpose of regime change
Whataboutism: OK when libs do it, dishonest as all hell for anyone else!
“Whataboutism” is an utterly nonsensical concept in international relations. Not only is it reasonable to compare like situations and expect similar opinions on similar issues, but that exact analysis is one of the principle sources of (what passes for) international law. If I say something is good when my country does it but bad when another country does it, I’m not trying to uphold any rules, I’m just cheerleading my country, why should I be taken seriously?
Regarding the referendum
It’s fine to be skeptical of referendums, but that does not extend to the western line of “obviously these were sham votes.” A vote is not a sham simply because it happened in a country you don’t like; you need some actual evidence.
And I would guess that Russian intervention should be limited to either sanctions or limited intervention in the Donbass region, not a whole invasion of Ukraine.
Russia tried the diplomatic route for most of a decade. It didn’t work, and as Angela Merkel admitted after the war started, it didn’t work in large part becsuse the west never intended to hold Ukraine to it.
A limited intervention is how this started, too – Russia and Ukraine had a ceasefire negotiated something like a month or two into this, but Boris Johnson and the west spiked it. Russia also appears to be content to sit in the pro-Russia eastern regions and slowly grind away at Ukraine’s ability to fight. They’re not making some all-out push to Kiev.
Whataboutism: OK when libs do it, dishonest as all hell for anyone else!
“Whataboutism” is an utterly nonsensical concept in international relations. Not only is it reasonable to compare like situations and expect similar opinions on similar issues, but that exact analysis is one of the principle sources of (what passes for) international law. If I say something is good when my country does it but bad when another country does it, I’m not trying to uphold any rules, I’m just cheerleading my country, why should I be taken seriously?
It’s fine to be skeptical of referendums, but that does not extend to the western line of “obviously these were sham votes.” A vote is not a sham simply because it happened in a country you don’t like; you need some actual evidence.
Russia tried the diplomatic route for most of a decade. It didn’t work, and as Angela Merkel admitted after the war started, it didn’t work in large part becsuse the west never intended to hold Ukraine to it.
A limited intervention is how this started, too – Russia and Ukraine had a ceasefire negotiated something like a month or two into this, but Boris Johnson and the west spiked it. Russia also appears to be content to sit in the pro-Russia eastern regions and slowly grind away at Ukraine’s ability to fight. They’re not making some all-out push to Kiev.