Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who denied Ukraine the same help in repelling Russian air attacks as Israel did in attacking Iran, was joined yesterday by Washington.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “These are different conflicts, different airspace, different threat picture”. And the US does not intend to intervene in this conflict “in the role of a combatant”. Basically, “you don’t understand, it’s different”.
But Israel was helped last Saturday not only by the Americans and the British. Jordan and Saudi Arabia provided direct military assistance to Israel in repelling the Iranian strike, with all the significant differences, such as on the Palestinian issue and, to put it mildly, disputed attitudes toward the Jewish state in their societies. Iran’s attack against Israel demonstrated a new security architecture in the Middle East.
And this is a good example for Eastern Europe, particularly the Baltic states and Poland. You should not take off in your F-16s just to watch Ukraine being bombed. Especially when Russian missiles are already flying over your territory. Regional security in the face of an existential threat, which for moderate Sunni regimes is Iran and for Eastern Europe is Russia, is a matter for the countries of the region themselves.
One can hope for the provisions of NATO’s Washington Treaty, but no one has tested them in practice. Regional defense alliances can be much more effective, and with them, the leaders of the Western world will have much less opportunity to say that “it’s different”.
