Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul is facing extreme pushback from all over the political spectrum after claiming that there are no "innocent" Russians.
Many people responded to his tweet pointing out that this is the same logic that has long emboldened terrorist organizations.
"There are no more “innocent” “neutral” Russians anymore. Everyone has to make a choice— support or oppose this war. The only way to end this war is if 100,000s, not thousands, protest against this senseless war. Putin can’t arrest you all!" McFaul tweeted on Wednesday morning. There are no more “innocent” “neutral” Russians anymore. Everyone has to make a choice— support or oppose this war. The only way to end this war is if 100,000s, not thousands, protest against this senseless war. Putin can’t arrest you all!
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 2, 2022
Journalist Ali AlAhmed, who exposed the Pentagon's botched translation of the 9-11 Bin Laden tape in December 2001 and discovered the video of Daniel Pearl's murder by terrorists, responded to McFaul pointing out that his logic was the same as the al Qaeda leader. Every American
— Ali AlAhmed (@AliAlAhmed_en) March 2, 2022
Others pointed to the sharp turn McFaul has made from his previous tweets, where he claimed that citizens are not responsible for their leader's actions.
— Allan (@AllanRicharz) March 2, 2022
Famed journalist Glenn Greenwald also weighed in,pointing out that this premise "could lead to some extremely dark places." I continue to think the reason these kinds of odious frameworks are accepted is because so many people either didn't live through 2002 as adults or have forgotten what was done. pic.twitter.com/8usCFAZa5f
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 2, 2022
Vox senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp also warned that "the notion that citizens of a state are collectively responsible for their government's policies is the exact logic used to justify terrorism." I have seen this logic used by extremists on both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict. It is what justifies Hamas suicide bombings of buses and the siege of Gaza. It is horrifying and should be roundly rejected by everyone.
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) March 2, 2022
"It's a moral absurdity to claim that citizens of a democracy who oppose their government are responsible for state policies — let alone citizens of an extremely repressive authoritarian state like Russia," Beauchamp continued. "I have seen this logic used by extremists on both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict. It is what justifies Hamas suicide bombings of buses and the siege of Gaza. It is horrifying and should be roundly rejected by everyone."
Human rights activist and political refugee, Iyad el-Baghdadi, who gained prominence during Arab Spring, also condemned McFaul's statement.
"This is a very dangerous narrative. I can't tell you how many Jihadist leaders said the same about Americans for decades. They did so to justify what they wanted to do, which is to kill American civilians then claim they weren't innocent," he wrote, following up with a screenshot of his roadmap to radicalization. It's literally part of the radicalization roadmap. Collective guilt. https://t.co/aj9GBBjWqE
— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) March 2, 2022
McFaul served as President Barack Obama's Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014.
