Trump and Musk could – and should

Independent

23-02-2025

President Zelensky is to be congratulated on keeping his cool in the face of unjustified and defamatory tirades from the ill-informed mouths of Donald Trump and Elon Musk (' Musk accuses Ukraine leader Zelensky of 'feeding off the dead bodies of soldiers' in vicious rant on X,' Friday 21 February). Enraged at the apparent temerity of Zelensky's refusal to give away half his country's resources, Trump and Musk are now attempting to outdo each other in venting their apoplectic spleens – hurling false accusations and gratuitous insults at a man whose valiant leadership has kept the Russians at bay for three long and bloody years.
Have Trump and Musk become so intoxicated by their own status, power, and wealth that they have lost the ability to reason and empathise, and separate fact from the tumult of poisonous fiction invading their minds? Why do these supposedly great people resort to such offensive onslaughts against an ally, rather than provide all the help they can? Do they perhaps feel eclipsed by the attention and approbation heaped upon this modest yet courageous wartime leader, whose people have been treated so cruelly by Vladimir Putin.
Now having to defend on two fronts, Putin in the East and Trump in the West, President Zelensky continues to acquit himself with honour, valour and forbearance. Trump and Musk could learn a great deal from this man, but that would require a little more humility and honesty on their part.
Never again?
Who in 1945 could imagine there would be such shameful headlines (" German election 2025 live updates: Voting begins after final poll predicts large gains for AfD," Sunday 23 February) just a few months short of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany?
Who would have predicted that so many, in Germany of all places, were willing to give fascism another chance?
Sasha Simic
London
'First they came for the Communists/ Socialists/ Trade Unionists/ Jews
'And I did not speak out because I was not a Communist/Socialist/ Trade Unionist/Jew.
'Then they came for me. And there was no one left to speak out for me.'
Let's hope Sir Keir Starmer and President Macron are mindful of Martin Niemoeller's words written in 1946. Otherwise, some very unpleasant people might come for all of us.
Sue Breadner
Douglas, Isle of Man
Give water customers a voice
Recently Thames Water was allowed, by the High Court, to borrow a further £3 billion to shore up its failing company (' Fury as 'profit-thirsty zombie' Thames Water kept afloat by £3bn bailout,' Tuesday 18 February). However, its customers were not consulted.
Since it will be its customers who have to bear the pain of servicing this loan, and ultimately responsible for repayment, isn't it a travesty of justice not to seek their approval before committing to further borrowing?
The company have a long history of financial mismanagement, lack of adequate planning to bring the eye-watering debt under control and continuance of treating the company as a cash cow.
What good is OFWAT if it allows Thames Water to borrow huge amounts of money which could, eventually, cause it to become insolvent?
Keith Poole
Basingstoke, Hampshire
The cost of war
Karen Marnie is right that we must never lose sight of the apocalyptic scenes of death and destruction in Ukraine (' Letters,' Friday 21 February). Dead bodies piled over each other in the streets. Refugees are crammed in squalid areas. Aerial bombardments have hit even hospitals and civilian infrastructures, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis and placing the lives of thousands of innocent civilians at grave risk. Millennia-old monuments were attacked, robbing us of the treasures of human civility. It is time for this senseless shedding of innocent blood to stop.
Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob
London
Re your Mea Culpa today (Sunday 23 February) about sending an astronaut 'bound for Mercury,' which I also noticed but didn't report (mea culpa!).
You state that Mercury is 192 million miles from Earth, but the Sun itself is only 93 million miles from Earth. A little solar system training called for?
Dr Mark Vaughn
Blewbury, Oxfordshire
Errors in corrections always spark a debate. Mercury is only 48 million miles from Earth at perihelion, not 192 million. Even at aphelion, it's only 132 million miles.
Simon Tomsett
Pagham, Sussex
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