Zelenskyy Is Right To Compare Russia’s War On Ukraine To 9/11 But A No-Fly Zone Could Make Things Much Worse
Biden is facing a difficult choice.
Haditha26 / Photographer RM / Shutterstock.com Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the current president of Ukraine, met with US congress this morning in a historic address where he made his case for the Ukrainian people and asked for the United States’ continued support — as well as making pleas for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
Zelenskyy received a standing ovation from the congressmen and was praised for his impactful words. In response, Biden is set to enlist an extra $800 million in military aid, but what about the no-fly zone?
Zelenskyy's request for a no-fly zone has been met with mixed responses.
Zelenskyy begged the US congress to help him “protect the sky,” but a no-fly zone is out of the question for President Biden.
RELATED: Wars Are Not Won Without Women — How Ukrainian Women Are Carrying The Burden Of The Russian Invasion
President Zelenskyy added comparisons to 2001's 9/11 terrorist attacks and Pearl Harbor, saying that Ukraine was experiencing those attacks every single day.
The analogy is fair — Ukraine is experiencing the wrath of Putin's terrorism with cities being reduced to rubble all along the eastern border.
"In your great history, you have pages that would allow you to understand the Ukrainian history. Understand us now," he said.
He also referenced Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous speech, by saying “I have a dream, these words are known to each of you - today I can say I have a need. I need to protect the sky.”
However, the United States has stood firm in its position to not enforce a no-fly zone, and for very good reasons that protect the entire world from harm.
A no-fly zone over Ukraine would almost certainly bring the United States into the war and start WWIII.
A no-fly zone basically means exactly what it says except that we’re not kindly asking Russia to stop flying their planes — we’re shooting any and all planes that enter the sky over Ukraine.
If we were to start shooting down Russian air forces, they likely wouldn’t take too kindly to that and would consider us enemies, effectively pulling the United States and NATO into the war.
Unfortunately, Russia is a nuclear-armed superpower, and therefore dealing with them is a very difficult task.
Checks, balances, and Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) have held us from the brink for the last 70 years, but poking Russia with a stick is not the way to continue those efforts.
Putin himself has acknowledged Ukraine’s pleas to enforce a no-fly zone, saying that any country that did that “will be considered by us as participation in an armed conflict by that country.”
Not only that, but he mentioned that any country that was to get involved in the war would face “consequences they have never seen,” in his many threats to push a nuclear war.
It would simply be better for Ukraine, Russia, the US, and NATO allies to not start a nuclear holocaust by enforcing a no-fly zone.
As cold as it may seem, the United States has no real obligation to join the war for any reason.
It’s heartbreaking to see what’s going on in Ukraine, especially in the digital age we live in today where everything can be posted online, but it’s for the best of the world if the United States plays from the sideline like we have been doing this whole time.
If you want to help the people of Ukraine, please donate to United Help Ukraine — they are providing donations, food, and medical supplies to displaced Ukrainians.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.