To the editor:
It is most encouraging that following his talk at the Vatican with President Zelensky, Mr. Trump condemned Putin’s continued missile attacks on Ukraine. He went so far as to say that Putin is “patting him along,” and he even suggested possible sanctions against him. Prior to this remarkable reversal, there was no hope for a just and lasting peace. If a permanent cessation of hostilities had been reached, it would have been fundamentally unjust, since Mr. Trump was, in essence, acting as Putin’s advocate in an attempt to secure a Ukrainian surrender. He was, incredibly, blaming President Zelensky for starting the war and for defending his country.
Perhaps Mr. Trump’s conversion, and his enlightenment that Putin may not be entirely trustworthy, was the work of the Holy Spirit. After all, it did take place at the services for a universally beloved man of peace. If so, it seems that the Holy Spirit has a good deal more work yet to do. Mrs. McCain of the World Food Program, as well as those still left in USAID have pointed with alarm to the fact that the food supply for the very poorest, mostly children, throughout the world, is fast running out, and will not be replenished, something for which the present administration must assume a significant amount of credit! Children in Gaza and Africa, their faces begrimed by the dust of war, frantically thrust their cups and bowls forward to get what may be the last dregs of rudimentary nutrition needed to keep them alive until the next attack. There can be no peace in Ukraine or anywhere else without Justice, and these little ones are the arbiters of that justice; their innocence indicts its offenders.
Nevertheless, credit must be given where credit is due. The picture of Prime Minister Starmer, President Macron (his hand on Zelensky’s shoulder), President Zelensky, and Mr. Trump standing closely huddled in conference is indeed a positive one. As the very rich who control the loaf are wont to remind us, “half a loaf is better than none.”
Joseph R. Noone
Lynn
