Yes, it is. However would you agree that there can be no genuine discussion if a criticism is responded to with a counter-criticism? If I criticize Castro, or any other politician or country, and then you respond by saying that the person or country I support is worse, then you are just skirting the issue. It will just turn into a volley of criticisms.
Some people will always respond to a criticism of North Korea by saying, "well, at least they are not imperialist like the US." That is indeed true, but does it follow from that that my criticism of North Korea is any less valid?
This rhetorical tactic of shifting the focus of a conversation away from the country/ideologue being criticized is used far too often, especially by those apologists for "real socialism", to divert any criticism of those countries (past and present).
-Thomas
===== <<Be like me! The Primal Mother, eternally creative, eternally impelling into life,
eternally drawing satisfaction from the ceaseless flux of phenomena.>>
-Nietzsche, "The Birth of Tragedy"
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