Columnist Peter Hitchens has criticized what he describes as a muddled and hypocritical Western approach to international conflicts, questioning the consistency of Western leaders' moral judgments and urging for a more dispassionate analysis of global events. Hitchens argues that Western media and governments often exhibit a lack of critical thought when evaluating wars and international actions.

He points to the assassination of Iranian figures, including the death of a young granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani, as an example of Western actions that go unaddressed by the US government, while simultaneously condemning similar actions by adversaries. Hitchens contrasts this with the outcry that would follow if a Russian missile killed a Western leader's family member.

"The girl’s name was Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani and her life was worth exactly as much as that of any other year-old little girl, anywhere in the world," Hitchens writes. He notes that the US government has not directly addressed her death or offered an apology, suggesting the blame is implicitly placed on Iran for the presence of a child during a targeted strike.

Hitchens also draws parallels between Western responses to different conflicts. He questions why the bombing of a girls' school in Iran, which he alleges killed 175 people including children, did not elicit the same level of grief and anger in the West as a hypothetical similar event involving Russia in Ukraine might. He suggests that the justification for the Iranian incident, a possible Revolutionary Guard base, is insufficient grounds for such an attack, especially given the alleged accuracy of Western surveillance technology.

Furthermore, Hitchens criticizes Western support for Israel's actions in Gaza and Lebanon, implying that if Russia were engaged in similar conduct in Ukraine, the West would react with strong disapproval, rather than continued financial and military aid.

"My point is very simple. Our emotions about these events are in a mess," Hitchens states. He argues that empathy and distress should be universally applied, not selectively. He contends that the West's own actions in various conflicts have been terrible and that it is not always true that