Letters to the editor March 13

De-escalation and diplomacy

Before being so quick to denounce the wisdom of Rep. Matt Rosendale, it may be worthwhile for Frank Johnson and all Montanans to acknowledge alternative viewpoints regarding the complex situation in the Ukraine, including the roles of the CIA, the U.S. State Dept., the Biden family, George Soros, and the EU. Their documented involvement in the transgression of previous agreements and disregard for geopolitical reality have likely helped to instigate the suffering that is now afflicting those poor people. U.S. military intelligence has proven itself duplicitous for decades, especially regarding Russia.

The answer is perhaps not escalation, but de-escalation, urging diplomacy for a neutral Ukraine, and getting the U.S. out of that arena other than as a peaceful non-meddling trading partner. Otherwise the magnitude of this will become increasingly unbearable.

Begin by reading the well referenced letter of Archbishop Vigano on the Russia-Ukraine Crisis. If our hands are not dirty and this is truly about Russian hegemony, that is one thing. But if this is instead about manipulation of the Ukrainian and American people for global corporatism and elitist greed, that is quite another. Reasonable people may disagree, but if we end up supporting this war let us do so with our eyes wide open, not propagandized. I think Mr. Rosendale is rightly hesitant.

— Michael Boharski, Kalispell

Open letter to AG Knutson

We are writing to inform you that your assessment of the drug trafficking situation on our southern border is wrong. In your perspective that was published in the Daily Inter Lake March 6, you infer that illegal immigration from our southern border is responsible for the fentanyl crisis in Montana. You did not do your homework; you did not check your facts.

The reality is that the vast majority of drug smuggling occurs at ports of entry (including airports), and the vast majority of traffickers are U.S. citizens. According to data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, U.S. citizens had 83.5% of fentanyl trafficking convictions in 2020. USSC also reported that the top districts for fentanyl trafficking offenders were: New Hampshire, Missouri, Ohio, California and Massachusetts, only one of which is on our southern border.

We appreciate your focus on the escalating drug crisis in our state, that is after all the responsibility of your office. It is therefore outrageously irresponsible that you put unfounded blame for this crisis where it does not belong.

Yes! We need to ferret out the criminals that are dealing drugs and killing our citizens. Yes! We need to increase capacity for investigations. Yes! We must work with multi-agency anti-drug task forces. Yes! We need more drug-detecting canines on patrol. We thank you whole heartedly for these initiatives.

But don’t confound these significant efforts with migrants seeking a better life.

We are now in Mexico volunteering with families fleeing corruption, hurricanes, drought, and threats from cartels in their Central America countries. These fellow human beings are desperately looking for a safer life for their families. Leaving ancestral homes is a terrifying situation and their journeys are dangerous.

And yes! Our immigration system is terribly broken. We need more immigration judges so that those seeking asylum can be properly vetted and given work permits. We know how many services are going unfulfilled in Montana. We would welcome these resilient families and conscientious workers.

But our southern border is still essentially closed and some choose to make the horrendous journey through the desert. Many don’t make it and their dreams die in this land of hard edges and sweltering heat. Let’s all please work together to make our state, our country, our world a safer, kinder place for all.

And let’s make certain that we have a solid foundation for the statement’s we make.

— Frank and Linda de Kort, Kalispell

Pope Francis and the Ukarine war

Tucked slyly among the chilling, Ukrainian war stories flooding mainstream media, independent secular and religious press releases this past week was the fake news that Pope Francis was staying silent about Putin’s war and doing nothing to denounce it. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Digging deeper, one finds that, as Bishop of Rome, he has indeed done everything possible diplomatically, spiritually and charitably to stop the carnage, to plead for peace, offer to mediate and to facilitate humanitarian aid.

As Bishop of Rome, however, he must observe carefully the protocols of his office and avoid treading on the toes of the spiritual leaders of Ukraine, among whom is Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, reputed to be in lockstep with Putin for the historical unity of Russia and Ukraine. (FYI, as a baby Putin was baptized into that tradition and is reputed to still practice it).

For Pope Francis to denounce Russia or Putin would be like Bishop Warfel of the Great Falls/Billings Diocese publicly denouncing an evil in Bishop Vetter’s Helena Diocese. It just isn’t done! There are boundaries to be observed.

Putting some of that aside, it is noted that the Bishops of Montana, Warfel and Vetter, are in lockstep with Francis in a Catholic-Christian boots on the ground response to the war which is to follow the Pope’s lead with intercessory prayer, fasting and charitable outreach to Ukraine and its refugees.

As well, I’m certain that Bishop Vetter would encourage his Flathead Valley flock to complete their Synod life story contributions (anonymously) on the Synod website at diocesehelena.org before the middle of April. (Young people, please help your shut in elders do this).

In a divided world it is remarkable to see efforts, such as this, being made to heal a divided church. In each diocese, the Synod humbly invites Catholics, former Catholics and people of other faith traditions to share their spiritual journeys with the Church (or critiques of the church) for the benefit of all the bishops of the world who will be meeting in Rome next year to share summaries of this input and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, cleanse and revitalize the “People of God” as a more positive instrument for peace in a messy world.

— Nancy McGunagle, Kalispell