The global response to Israel and America’s strikes on Iran is very revealing.

Britain: quiet. Prime Minister Keir Starmer loudly proclaimed that Britain had nothing to do with the attacks in an obvious plea for Iran and its proxies to leave the UK alone. Once Iran struck British interests anyway, Starmer still did not respond, but he did allow the U.S. to strike back from British bases.

Veteran journalist Andrew Neil called Starmer “an embarrassment and an irrelevance”:

In a series of excruciating changes, including on this station, from which his reputation will not recover, [Defense Secretary] John Healey refused to say, again and again, if the British government supported the attacks on Iran. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper went through the same farce this morning.

Well, it’s only the signal military action of our time. Why would you have an opinion? …

None of this is to argue for British support or British participation. I understand why we should be wary. But it is to argue we should know where our government stands. Yet we don’t. Hence the embarrassment and the irrelevance.

Canada and Australia have backed the strikes. Britain’s leaders lack even the nerve to back or oppose them.

EU: leaderless. President Trump’s decision to strike Iran once again demonstrates what a strong, determined leader can do. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was widely criticized for waiting until Monday to even convene a meeting about the “signal military action of our time.” War may have broken out in the Middle East, but European politicians can’t be expected to work weekends.

EU nations produced an assortment of responses to the war. Germany and France kind-of-sort-of supported the U.S. while calling for negotiations. They, along with the UK, put out a statement saying they might be willing to help “potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source.” Spain, meanwhile, condemned America and Israel.

Cyprus: distressed. The one area where the EU moved swiftly speaks volumes about its priorities.

A drone struck a British airbase in Cyprus at midnight on Sunday. No one was hurt. But von der Leyen quickly released a statement saying that the EU stands “collectively, firmly, and unequivocally” with its member states. Greece dispatched two warships to help guard the island.

The base is sovereign British territory, yet it is not the Royal Navy coming to defend the island. The EU is seizing the opportunity to portray itself as Cyprus’s most reliable defender.

After Hamas massacred Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, and ignited the current round of war, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry immediately drew attention to Cyprus: “Led by Germany, Cyprus is becoming a military base for the European Union!” The island is crucial for outside nations that want to project power into the Middle East. “Don’t you think Germany wants to push Britain and America out of Cyprus, which they used so powerfully in that last world war?”

This bombing shows the importance of Cyprus as an airbase and monitoring station, and it reveals Europe’s will to establish dominance over it.

Vatican: ‘jaw jaw.’ Pope Leo issued “a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” on Monday. He claimed:

Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats nor with weapons that sow destruction, pain and death, but only through a dialogue that is reasonable, authentic and responsible.

History teaches the opposite lesson. Conflicts that ended with dialogue have tended to explode again, but those that ended with overwhelming force, like World War ii, have proved to be more stable and conclusive. Though man doesn’t have any way of bringing lasting peace.

As the first American pope, Leo is probably keen to avoid being seen as too supportive of his home country. The Vatican is also keen to get more involved in the Middle East peace process, so it wants to avoid taking sides.

This is a church that claims to belong to Jesus Christ, yet it has constantly prioritized its own political interests over taking a stand against evil. The October 7 massacre is a prime example. Pope Francis did not condemn Hamas, instead directing most of his condemnations at Israel and spreading fake news about the war. Leo is less dramatic in his gestures, but the same spirit is there.

For more on Europe and the Vatican’s ambitions in the Middle East, read Mr. Flurry’s article “As You Watch Gaza—Watch Germany.”