By Joel Mathis The Week
One of the more astonishing developments of the last week has been the sight of ordinary Russians taking to the streets to decry Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. In a country where dissent can quickly get you imprisoned or even poisoned, it takes extraordinary moral courage to take a stand: As many as 5,000 protesters have already been arrested.
But does the world have the right to expect such courage from Russians?
Michael McFaul, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration, thinks so. “There are no more ‘innocent’ ‘neutral’ Russians anymore. Everyone has to make a choice — support or oppose this war,” he wrote Wednesday morning on Twitter. “The only way to end this war is if 100,000s, not thousands, protest against this senseless war. Putin can’t arrest you all!”
That’s glib, morally preening nonsense.
