There are no good wars, but sometimes there are necessary wars. Of course, we should always be skeptical of wars, often rushed into too blithely, without careful consideration of the geopolitical consequences or the suffering that inevitably accompanies them. The United States has notably intervened too often and too widely, often believing that it can reorder the world by force. That said, nations, like people, have an inherent right to self-defense. Whether Ukraine resisting a brutal Russian invasion, or Israel responding to the barbarism of Hamas, sometimes wars are both justified and necessary.

We should also recognize that there is not always a moral equivalence between combatants. Yes, prewar Ukraine was too frequently corrupt. Perhaps we should have been more sensitive to Russian fears of NATO expansion. Russian speakers in the Donbas may have had legitimate concerns. But none of that justifies Russia’s invasion of a sovereign nation, the deliberate targeting of civilians, the use of rape as a weapon of war, the torture and murder of innocents.  

Similarly, the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians has been reprehensible. The isolation of Gaza, effectively an open-air prison, and the indignities heaped on Palestinians in the West Bank should be roundly criticized. The Netanyahu government has been divisive, anti-democratic, and expansionist. But that cannot possibly excuse massacring young people at a concert, burning and beheading babies, or raping and torturing civilians. That’s not resistance; that is evil.

We’ve all become cynical in recent years, with justification, seeing the world in shades of gray and trusting no one. But sometimes there really are good guys and bad guys. Even if the good guys are imperfect, the bad guys here should be readily apparent.    

There is plenty of room to be critical of Ukrainian and Israeli tactics. One can even oppose U.S. assistance to either nation, though I would strongly disagree. But if you can’t bring yourself to denounce the barbarity of Hamas or the aggression of Putin’s Russia, I would suggest your moral compass is in serious need of repair. Silence is complicity.