IT'S LONG PAST TIME TO "MAN UP" FOR NATO AND THE WEST

 Dear Editor (of the New York Times):

It is well past time that the United States and NATO declare a "no fly" zone over Ukraine for Russian helicopters, jets- and missiles.   Regardless of whether the Ukraine is allowed to join NATO- and it would be a good idea to give them immediate provisional membership- the Russians have given the world legal cause to act militarily to stop their invasion and to stop the murder of Ukraine's civilians.   Russia's bombing Ukraine nuclear power plants does not just endanger the Ukraine, it endangers the air of every neighboring country, several of which are NATO members.  Russia's indiscriminate shelling of residential areas of Ukraine's major cities and forcing civilians to flee the country by the millions constitutes an attempt at the destruction of the Ukraine's people:  genocide.  This legally allows the U.S. to act under international treaties to which we are a signatory.  It's what gave us legal permission in the 1990's to use U.S. air power to stop the Serbian genocide in Bosnia.

 

    Putin can threaten and bluster all he wants.   However, he should not be able to gain the fruits of his brutal invasion by repeated threats which would require Russia's top military brass to carry out; and it's clear he's not sure of that backing.   But the only thing that will save Ukraine- and the rest of us- is having the courage to tell Putin that if he takes any military act against any NATO country in "retaliation" for NATO's enforcing a no-fly zone over the entirety of Ukraine then he will be risking a military response by NATO.  He should be warned that NATO won't be limited to enforcing a no fly zone by taking out any Russian aircraft or missile sites which defy it.

(I wrote this on March 5, 2022, only twelve days after the Russian invasion began.   It is now April 17, 2022, forty-three days later.    It is true now more than ever.)