Like? Is anyone who starts a war a “war criminal” now?

If it’s because Russia’s killed civilians (whether intentionally or just because they didn’t care enough in pursuit of their military objectives), then, like, isn’t basically every Western leader + Biden a “war criminal”? How would you ever create a standard that could include him but not others?

And if they are all “war criminals” then why would you support one over the other? I don’t get this conversation.

And even if you had to, like, in what world would it make sense to think that Putin is worse than Netanyahu or the Western leaders who arm and support him?

  • regul [any]
    ·
    2 days ago

    Not saying this is in any way comparable to the current state of affairs, but it's very easy to support one side in a war in which they're both war criminals. Just because both sides are doing things defined as war crimes doesn't make their goals unjust.

    Like the Allies in WW2, the Red Army in the Russian Civil War, the Vietcong in Vietnam, etc.

    • StalinStan [none/use name]
      ·
      2 days ago

      The allies were absolutely unjust. They were defending the genocidal British empire. Then they were doing colonialism in west, middle, and east Asia. West Asia here being the backwater European peninsula where the allies took land from displaced jews and gave it to German people. They were a rogue faction using weapons of mass destruction to ensure favorable trade positions post war.

      • regul [any]
        ·
        2 days ago

        Killing Nazis is an unalloyed good.

          • vovchik_ilich [he/him]
            ·
            1 day ago

            First we fought a war against them, which was good given the lack of alternatives to prevent genocide in greater areas, then we forgave everything and kept those people in power, which was horrible.

            • StalinStan [none/use name]
              ·
              1 day ago

              You forgot about us supporting them before that. The big nazi rally in new York. All the US businesses getting nice contracts with them. Honestly if it wasn't for Japan I really feel like we might not have really gotten in the war.

              • vovchik_ilich [he/him]
                ·
                1 day ago

                Well, I wasn't talking exclusively about the US, but sure, I get your point.

        • Belly_Beanis [he/him]
          ·
          2 days ago

          ....and Chinese communists, the Chinese Nationalists, the precursors to the NVA and Vietcong, Mexico, the Korean resistance, the Filipino resistance, Brazil, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Haiti, etc.

          It's a blind spot in people's understanding of WWII. The Allies was more than just France, the US, UK, and USSR. It included dozens of countries across the world, especially in Asia where the war started.