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Most Americans Don’t Understand What a No-Fly Zone Over Ukraine Means
Simply put, it would mean war with Russia
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on March 4th shows that 74% of Americans favor establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, surely the most united we have been as a country on any question in the past ten years. However, a majority also said that they oppose sending American ground troops to Ukraine or conducting air strikes against the invading Russian forces. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what implementing a no-fly zone would mean. It would, in effect, mean going to war with Russia; NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, retired military commanders, and members of Congress have all said as much over the past few days.
When most Americans think of a no-fly zone, they think of the conflict in Syria or the no-fly zone imposed over Iraq between the first Gulf War in 1991 and the second in 2003. In both instances, the U.S. and its allies could impose such a restriction because the opponent they faced had no real way to counter it or inflict any consequences in return. The Iraqi Air Force, for example, was virtually non-existent following the 1991 Gulf War. And in neither case was there ever any danger of nuclear weapons becoming involved.
