What About Whataboutism?

  

We all know how this works. When the bad actors from January 6, 2021 were called out for the mayhem at the US Capitol, the response was, what about the damage caused by protestors following the death of George Floyd? Or, to make it more current, while the West condemns Vladimir Putin for the Russian Army’s barbaric attacks on civilian populations in Ukraine, the response might be, so what about us dropping not one, but two atomic bombs on civilian populations in Japan? Mr. Putin is paranoid about creeping democracy near Russia’s borders. But what about our invasion of Vietnam because of the “domino theory” about creeping communism in Asia?

Of course, the purpose of whataboutism is deflection – throwing similar behavior back in the face of an accuser. There is often debate about whether apples are being compared to oranges. But I do think it is thought-provoking.

What are now perceived as regrettable decisions by our government or even by ourselves as individuals do not disqualify us from calling out unacceptable behavior in the present – maybe even the opposite.

Moral sensibilities are always evolving, and sometimes, when we commit what is later perceived as a sin, just having to live with the consequences of our behavior is the very thing that discourages us from repeating it. Maybe that actually qualifies us to call bad actions out now when we see them.

America hasn’t been very good at war since World War II. with one bright exception, to my thinking: Desert Storm, better known as the Gulf War, in 1990 and ‘91. We had seen Saddam Hussein of Iraq invade his neighbor, our ally Kuwait, in order to annex it. Within a few short weeks, we led a coalition to drive his forces back to Iraq. That was our clear mission, and we left when it was accomplished. Our later involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan were questionable, but at the very least, we never had a deliberate policy of terrorizing civilians, maybe because we had been there and done that.

All of this said, unless Mr. Putin has a “road to Damascus” moment. I am in favor of whatever makes him go away as quickly as possible. I think it’s terrible that the West did not take action soon enough to prevent the devastation in Ukraine. But because of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I can’t blame us all entirely for being a little careful, for a variety of reasons.