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> and even if the situations were exactly the same, that still doesn’t justify Russia invading Ukraine I would take issue with the word justify. That country
by azangru 5y ago
> and even if the situations were exactly the same, that still doesn’t justify Russia invading Ukraine
I would take issue with the word justify.
That country A did something bad to country B doesn't justify country C doing the same bad thing to country D. But what it does do is puts the actions of country C in historical perspective (i.e. is it uniquely evil), and calls into question the moral argument advanced by country A (if it claims that what country C does to country D is wrong, then how come it did the same to country B? where was the moral argument then?).
When we see someone say one thing and do another, we call such person a hypocrite. This person might object that by calling him so, we engage in a whataboutism, because his actions have no bearing on whether what he says is the right thing to do. But such objection typically doesn't work. I wonder why.
- ericmay 5y agoIf you wanted to take this further then you'd have to do a greater comparison of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Russia's invasion of Ukraine... and I think then you'd have a difficult time drawing a good comparison. If Russia is or is not justified in its invasion of Ukraine, what is it? What word would you use here when someone is attempting to draw a comparison in order to make one thing "ok" because of another thing?
- azangru 5y ago> If Russia is or is not justified in its invasion of Ukraine, what is it? I've no idea. I don't know if there is such a thing as a justified invasion; and if there is, then what are its criteria; and whether all countries have agreed to recognize the same set of criteria; and what specific criteria Russia would claim that it met in this case. I know that there were several ill-defined reasons that the Russian government offered to its citizens. Obviously, after the invasion had already started. Obviously, insisting that they are in the right. I have not heard an in-depth analysis of their reasons against the criteria of a justified invasion. All I heard are fragments. > What word would you use here when someone is attempting to draw a comparison in order to make one thing "ok" because of another thing? "similar"? "dissimilar"? "understandable"? "incomprehensible"? "ok" is a moral judgement; and applying a moral yardstick to instigators of a war is ... hard.