The Bombing in Syria and Mr. Trump's Newly Discovered Compassion

AN EDITED VERSION OF THIS PIECE IS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR IN THE RECORD, A BERGEN COUNTY NEWSPAPER

There are many complicated pieces to the puzzle that is Syria. While the motivation of this administration must be questioned and challenged in the light of its past statements and policies, their actions last evening, at least on their face, indicate that we are still a nation invested in others, that we have a moral compass and that we can and will respond when the worst abominations are committed, even if they are not committed upon us.  But I am skeptical until this change in attitude is further demonstrated.

Mr. Trump must translate his sudden apparent compassion for the suffering of innocent Syrians into a seismic shift on his executive order on immigration.  He may have now finally, far too belatedly,  recognized that the dead and injured in Syria are not enemies but victims. That these are not criminals, not terrorists, but terrified human beings, bombed and gassed into lives of unimaginable horror and pain.

If there is any good to come of this latest and starkest tragedy, let it be that Mr. Trump stops behaving like an unfocused, unhinged, uncaring lout. Let him show not by word but by deed, respect and open invitation, that those whose only sin is living in the wrong place at the wrong time are welcome here.

RSN

PS

Earlier this year, a piece I wrote on Mr. Trump's insistence that there was no evidence to connect Russia to the hacking of our election  (remember the comment - it could have been some 400 pound guy sitting on his bed). This piece was approved for publication by the NY Times but, after appearing online was summarily placed in the "do not use" bin after Mr. Trump 'modified' his stance later that same day.

Now, barely two months later, it has happened again. This time, my letter on Mr. Trump's dismal performance in his interview with the Times made the online page late yesterday (and also the print pages in the national edition) But the significance of the strikes by the US in Syria rendered my thoughts less important or relevant. Instead, the reflections on the letters page (in todays New York  print edition) included a response to what had transpired early last evening. My letter was left on the cutting room floor.