Harry Carter retweetledi
That’s not a fair critique of Zelensky. Mehdi’s post is problematic, but so are many of the replies to it. Both over-moralise wartime decision-making.
Mehdi over-moralises hypocrisy. His critics over-moralise Ukraine’s right to retaliate because Iran helped Russia. A right to retaliate does not mean it is advantageous for Ukraine to use it.
In reality, Ukraine is a politically fragile state in an anarchic international environment. It depends on powers whose conduct it cannot control.
Trump’s war with Iran is not good for Ukraine. But Zelensky still has to react to it. And whatever he does, he loses. Endorsing Trump’s war is damaging. Rejecting Trump’s war is dangerous.
Ukraine’s case before the world rests on the norm against aggressive war. But that norm has largely collapsed. Ukraine still depends on it, but it is too fragile to help restore it. That is the tragic dimension of politics.
Zelensky’s choices, even if they are wrong, are driven by necessity, uncertainty, and survival.
Mehdi Hasan@mehdirhasan
It's astonishing that you, a world leader who many respected for standing up to an illegal attack on your country, now support an illegal attack on another country. It completely kills your credibility. Right now. Iran is Ukraine. You may not like to hear that but that is a fact
English
