I think it’s okay to take our proverbial heads out of the sand and start asking the hard questions about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

I’ve already seen people in social media (albeit in memes) and i real life referring to Russias invasion of Ukraine as the star of World War III. While at times I think we say WW III in jest; I also think we laugh because it’s dramatic and we laugh because it’s true.

As an American, I naturally look at this from an America perspective; so bear with me. Thinking about Americas involvement in international conflict, one has to wonder what will be the tipping at which America gets actively involved.

President Biden has already announced that weapons and humanitarian aid will be sent to Ukraine. In turn, Vladimir Putin has said that any attempt to send weapons to Ukraine will be considered an act of war.

At the risk of sounding morbid, what will happen if American weapons are destroyed en route to the Ukrainians? Would American troops be sent in to secure the safe passage of said weapons? Would Putin fire On American troops, or even American civilians?

America entered the First World War when German submarines sank the civilian passenger ship Lusitania. The United States declared war on Japan immediately after the attack in Pearl Harbor. Looking back on both situations, American involvement in both wars seemed inevitable. One has to wonder if history will repeat itself; and America finds herself pulled into another conflict.

Even the possibility of a theoretical American intervention in Ukraine has me concerned. In the past, kid won his floated the idea of joining the military after high school, presumably to pay for college. While military service is a very noble profession and it is necessary for the defense of our nation, the thought that either of my sons could one day see active combat duty frightens me; as I’m sure it is the parents of any soldier, or would-be soldier.

I think a big difference this time is that Russia doesn’t appear to have any international support on their invasion of Ukraine. We have t heard much from China so far. I suspect this is because Beijing doesn’t want to see it’s economy ground to a halt the way the Russian economy has been.

While China seems to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, they also sat as Russian threatened to and eventually invaded Ukraine. China is trying to straddle both sides of the proverbial fence, as is the United States.

This situation is far from over.