I got the email yesterday, and it shocked me..It was from my professor buddy whom I’ve known since the ’70s. He teaches at a major university, and, he’s about the same age I am..Both of us have been to the barbecue before, to put it nicely..He wrote to me that he was thinking of going to Poland for a few months to help Ukrainian refugees..He said, “I may be too old to fight, but I’m not too old to help.”.My first instinct was to try to talk him out of it. I said, “Look, why don’t you just help refugees who arrive here, or, just donate to the cause?”.“No”, he said. “That’s not enough.”.Keep in mind, this fellow is not Ukrainian. Not even close. His family came from the British Isles..He then said, “I just know I have to do something. For all intents and purposes, this is World War III.”.“And as with the Second World War, there are good guys and bad guys — really bad, bad guys.” .“And the really bad, bad guys need to be defeated — they don’t just threaten Ukraine, they threaten democracy, free speech and all that other good stuff. This is not a proxy war like Vietnam, it’s the real thing.”.Unfortunately, I think he’s quite right — this is not a video game. The world is facing its greatest threat to freedom in decades..That same frustration — having witnessed nearly three weeks of this unimaginable Ukraine nightmare — is being felt around the globe..Today, it spilled over during a CNN interview with retired US General Wesley Clark, who is pushing for further actions to help Ukraine..Clark spent 34 years in the US Army, and received many military decorations, several honorary knighthoods, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. .He also served as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000, commanding Operation Allied Force during the Kosovo War..“The whole thing on a No-Fly-Zone (NFZ) is a straw man,” Clark told Wolf Blitzer this week..“You say no fly zone, and all the legal experts in the Pentagon come out of their cracks and they start telling you what you have to do and so forth.”.“The art of this is to put our forces in position and make Mr. Putin take the provocative step.”.“This is Ukrainian airspace. It does not belong to Russia. It’s not owned by Russia.”.“And Vladimir Putin has no right to it. The Ukrainians have asked for help. Okay?” .“If we don’t wanna put our aircraft in there, let our allies get that aircraft in there. The Ukrainians say they need it.” .“I hear discussion behind the scenes say, well, these MiGS may not fly. They may not be very good. Look, let the Ukrainians have what they need.”.But what about the so-called red-line? NATO and the White House have valid concerns about pushing the Russians too far and escalating the conflict..Especially against an angry and frustrated Russian president, who may be a few cards short of a full deck..Is there a possible workaround to get those fighter jets Ukraine has asked for?.“Let them have that. What is the problem?” said Clark. .“We were going to do it, but you know, we keep telegraphing everything. And then we get into the political discussion.”.“And then Mr. Putin says, ‘Oh, well that’s a red line.’ Well, this is a cancer affecting not only Ukraine, but the entire rules based international system. If we allow Putin success in Ukraine, he’s not stopping there. The Chinese are looking at Taiwan.” .“Russia has already published plans and broadcast on television about how they’re gonna take the Baltic states. And this, this, we have to confront this. This is not something you can duck and hope it goes away.”.“This is a full-fledged assault led by Mr. Putin on the international rules-based system. There is no ducking it, so … this meeting coming up on the 24th of March with the president in Europe is very, very important. And I’m hopeful.”.According to media reports, Russia is trying to recruit Syrian fighters from the Middle East because of their experience in urban warfare. Such is Putin’s desperation..The Kremlin clearly overplayed its hand, and the show of Russian strength has become a humiliating demonstration of weakness. The moment is right to support Ukraine, in any way possible, and that appears to be happening..Among the latest tranche of US support, are lethal Switchblade kamikaze drones, according to EuroNews.Next..The Switchblade is basically a single-use loitering munition (LM) that’s small enough to fit in a backpack, cruises at around 100 km/h and carries cameras, guidance systems and explosives to dive-bomb into its target..Unlike most weapons, the Switchblade can also disengage or abort a mission at any time, and then recommit to another target depending on what the operator commands..LMs can be difficult for adversaries to detect and destroy because of their low radar, visual, and thermal signatures..Clark’s comments were also recently echoed by John Raine, a senior adviser for Geopolitical Due Diligence in an analysis for ISS.org..Labeling it “the escalation trap,” Raine brazenly argues NATO has an opportunity — if not a duty — to revisit the threshold for resisting Russian aggression..At some point, it must show it’s prepared to respond militarily and that it has overcome its fear of escalation, he added..As Raine states, the resistance in Ukraine is punching back. For them, there is no fear of escalation. None. Fight until you die..The evidence is not that Putin wants to pull the knife of a nuclear exchange, but that he wants to use the threat of it, occasionally even letting us see the blade of his knife to give him the freedom to pummel us, Raine writes..But not everyone in the US military community is convinced that a NFZ is feasible. It’s not, as some may think, an “umbrella.”.A no-fly zone is neither a simple nor a risk-free approach to helping Ukraine, according to retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, former commander of the Northern Watch no-fly zone over Iraq..Deptula points out that such a thing is “not some magical way to disperse an enemy without bloodshed.” A no-fly zone is war, he told Air Force Magazine..It’s “full-on, direct and sustained combat with enemy forces,” he asserted. Those glibly proposing it likely don’t really appreciate what’s involved, he added..A no-fly zone would require the answers to myriad questions that have scarcely been asked, let alone answered, Deptula said. What would be the rules of engagement? Would only Russian aircraft be targeted? Could they be targeted only over Ukraine, or over Russia?.“And who’s in charge?” Deptula wondered. “The Ukrainian military? NATO? The individual air forces?”.Obviously, there are no easy solutions, or, even possible workarounds to the challenges that face the US and NATO in the Russian-Ukraine conflict..The problem, according to Alexander Vindman, retired US Army Lt. Col. and former director for European affairs on the National Security Council, while the rules of great-power competition and confrontation have not changed since the beginning of the Cold War, we appear to have forgotten how to confront a belligerent, saber-rattling Russia..The onus is on the West, Vindman wrote in a Washington Post Op-Ed, to buttress Ukrainian ferocity on the battlefield using its economic resources, diplomatic influence and military power..Perhaps that is the only card we can play..Dave Makichuk is a Western Standard contributor. PTacitus27@gmail.com
