Russia speaks total lies. That doesn’t diminish America’s half-truths | Peter Beinart

We can't ignore that the US is capable of wars like Vietnam and Iraq. Still, the US is an important force for peace against Russian aggression

In 1943, the Hungarian-born journalist Arthur Koestler wrote: In this war we are fighting against a total lie in the name of a half-truth." That's a good motto for American progressives to adopt in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Saying the US stands with Ukraine because America is committed to democracy and the rules-based international order" is at best a half-truth. The US helps dictatorships like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates commit war crimes in Yemen, employs economic sanctions that deny people from Iran to Venezuela to Syria life-saving medicines, rips up international agreements like the Iran nuclear deal and Paris climate accords, and threatens the International Criminal Court if it investigates the US or Israel.

Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) is professor of journalism and political science at The Newmark School of Journalism at The City University of New York. He is also editor-at-large of Jewish Currents and writes The Beinart Notebook, a weekly newsletter