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?
You kinda answered your own question.
First of all, it comes down to how you define what a war crime actually is and that needs to be pinned down with whoever you’re talking to if there is any hope of having a meaningful conversation. Depending on the specifics of the definition, it’s not necessarily that Putin isn’t one but rather his crimes are so small and petty compared to every single NATO country leader, any leader involved in (for example) the Iraq war, and basically any leader that has taken part in colonialism or US imperialism. Hell, just the sanctions on Iraq before the last war are much greater crimes causing much more civilian suffering and death than anything that Russia (as led by Putin) has done in Ukraine.
To make the term meaningful, I actually don’t think Putin should be included under the umbrella. The way Russia has conducted this war is actually astounding in how careful they have been to not cause civilian casualties. I forget the actual statistic here but the civilian deaths caused by the “shock and awe” of the US bombing of Iraqi infrastructure in the first 2 weeks of the Iraq war took something like 6 months or more in Ukraine to reach that same number. Through most of the conflict, Russia deliberately kept Ukrainian infrastructure intact. And fucking Netanyahu? Israel is openly mass murdering children and targeting hospitals and aid workers. They are conducting a visible, unambiguous, full scale genocide. It doesn’t get more “war criminal” than that. Anyone, even among hardcore Russia hater libs that say Putin is a war criminal but Netanyahu is not are beyond fucking deluded. They aren’t just deeply unserious, they’re profoundly flippant.
How many blue MAGA libs (your everyday citizens, not the politicians) hold this view? In my experience, the usual lib line is that Israel is committing a genocide because Netanyahu is running it, but that everything would be just fine if some good wholesome Israeli was in charge instead. They don’t even acknowledge that Israel is a settler colony and that that’s the root of the issue, let alone the fact that this genocide spans eight decades; they just vibe with great man theory and hope Netanyadomort gets replaced while nothing else fundamentally changes.