One of the most shocking aspects of the current war in Ukraine is just how blithely many people are calling for actions that would lead almost certainly to war. It’s as though they think that Russia will just allow itself to be pushed over, and won’t lash out with nuclear weapons if it feels itself threatened. And all it takes is one miscalculation before we end up in an all-out nuclear war.
The parliament of Estonia, a NATO member, just called for a no-fly zone over Ukraine. And in case you were wondering, the Estonian Air Force consists of one jet trainer, two transport aircraft, and three small helicopters. That’s hardly sufficient to defend its own airspace, let alone help with a no-fly zone. But it’s typical of the attitude of European countries, including Ukraine, that don’t want to spend money on their own defense but then expect the US to come rushing to their defense.
In the US, our politicians have been just as cavalier in their calls for no-fly zones and military action against Russia. While many don’t seem to understand that establishing a no-fly zone will lead almost inevitably to war with Russia, others just don’t care. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) doesn’t have a problem with US troops taking on Russia because he thinks such a war would end pretty quickly.
That’s a classic case of underestimating the difficulty of war, something which could easily get us bogged down into yet another quagmire. Risch seems to put his full faith in media reports about the ineptness of Russian troops. But while there may be a great number of inept troops, there’s no denying that Russia continues to make inroads into Ukraine.
We’ve all become so used to the United States bowling over incompetent Arab or Muslim countries that we think that Russia’s failure to take over Ukraine within a week is indicative of some sort of incompetence or failure. But really this is the reality of war, especially one in which the invading troops have difficulty telling friend from foe, and want to minimize civilian casualties.
If the US were to go to war with Russia, it wouldn’t be a cake walk. And if it were to end pretty quickly, it could be because Russia decided to nuke Washington back to the Stone Age. That’s probably not what warmongers like Risch want, but it’s what we may end up getting if they have their way.