South Lawn 10:34 A.M. EST Q Mr. President, what — do you hold Iran responsible for the death of the three Americans? Q Have you made a decision how you’ll respond to the attacks? THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Q And — Q Mr. President, do you hold Iran responsible for the death of those three Americans?…
Whataboutism or whataboutery (as in “what about…?”) is a pejorative for the strategy of responding to an accusation with a counter-accusation instead of a defense of the original accusation. … Leonid Bershidsky called whataboutism a “Russian tradition”, while The New Yorker described the technique as “a strategy of false moral equivalences”. Julia Ioffe called whataboutism a “sacred Russian tactic”, and compared it to accusing the pot of calling the kettle black. …
Discussing the crimes of our own country as well as the crimes of others is not always an effort to downplay other countries’ crimes—it can be a test of whether we are serious about our principles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
Ben Burgis @ Current Affairs: Is “Whataboutism” Always a Bad Thing?
Is whataboutism acceptable, when Israel defends its actions in Gaza by saying “What about Hamas crimes?”
As both pieces explain, it has its uses and its abuses.
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@Hyperreality@kbin.social expanded their comment after i posted my mine, making it seem as if I tacitly accept that framing, which I do not.