Vladimir Putin & Russia: Western Policy Goals Misguided

In the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday, columnist Peter Hitchens begs for “civilised debate, rather than McCarthyite intolerance, on the Ukraine issue .” He complains that “even before the Putin invasion those, like me, who opposed goading Russia were defamed as ‘Putin apologists’ (I have for years referred to him as a sinister tyrant) and falsely accused of ‘parroting Russian propaganda’.”

Hitchens says that since the invasion he is “constantly accused of ‘justifying’ the action, even though I clearly, and without hesitation, condemned the invasion as barbaric, lawless and stupid, and have never deviated from this view.”

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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In the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday, columnist Peter Hitchens begs for “civilised debate, rather than McCarthyite intolerance, on the Ukraine issue .” He complains that “even before the Putin invasion those, like me, who opposed goading Russia were defamed as ‘Putin apologists’ (I have for years referred to him as a sinister tyrant) and falsely accused of ‘parroting Russian propaganda’.”

Hitchens says that since the invasion he is “constantly accused of ‘justifying’ the action, even though I clearly, and without hesitation, condemned the invasion as barbaric, lawless and stupid, and have never deviated from this view.”