The Rules of Engagement
The Rules of Engagement
Killing civilians is ok, moving the needle is not.
The war between Ukraine and Russia, held in a military conflict in Ukraine and in an economic conflict across the globe has been apparent to take place since 2020. Any country with the necessary spy satellites could have spotted Russian troop and equipment movements towards the Russian western border.
High-level talks
When the U.S., Great Britain or France would have caught wind of these troop movements, they would quietly set up the necessary channels to establish the extent of Russian aggression, and whether it would impose on their sovereign stakes.
In these high-level talks, they would agree with the Russians on the basic rules of the coming war. This would entail for instance, the non-use of nuclear weaponry from the Russian side, the non-commitment of troops from NATO countries to Ukraine, the non-aggression into NATO territory from Russia, apparently the non-establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine and perhaps even declining to provide heavy, modern weaponry to the Ukrainian side.
No-fly zone
One more recent example of a no-fly zone was perhaps it's establishment over Syria in 2016, when the Russian Federation installed a three-layer ground aerial defense system that de facto only allowed Russian, Israeli and Syrian airplanes.
When the issue of a possible no-fly zone in Ukraine being enforced by a peacekeeping air-or-ground force was raised, most media dismissed the matter as not being viable.
The so-called horrible extent of a no-fly zone over Ukraine was envisioned as shooting down Russian planes, and thereby showing aggression or issuing a provocation towards the Russian side.
Incomplete and invalid arguments
The establishment of a no-fly zone could be held at a partial level, instead. Some parts of Ukraine could, at the request of Ukraine itself, have protected airspace, thereby withdrawing Russian air superiority and Russian terror from selected Ukrainian areas.
The shooting down of Russian planes in a no-fly zone is also a moot point in modern warfare. It is apparent that after the possible establishment of a well-in-advance warned air shield in a no-fly zone, opposing war planes will no longer enter the no-fly zone, unless they are of the kamikaze variety.
Bamboozled
It is our position that European politicians have been bamboozled into negotiating pejorative rules of engagement for the European continent as a whole and the country of Ukraine in particular.
We believe the rules of engagement need to be renegotiated, not in the least after several airstrikes on civilian buildings, one notable example being the public theatre in Mariupol that was being used as a bomb shelter for the civilian population, but is currently leveled to the ground by an air strike, burying the people inside.
In our view a no-fly zone above (parts of) Ukraine is the right, smart and forward-thinking thing to do. We believe the march of peoples will settle a no-fly zone over Ukraine in the future in any case and we believe the time to do so is now, if not yesterday.