Zelensky Invokes Pearl Harbor, MLK & 9/11 In Emotional Plea For “Humanitarian No Fly Zone”

Update(10:14ET): Zelensky was greeted in his virtual address with standing ovations by a full body of lawmakers from the House and Senate before before and after the speech. It was broadcast live on all major US networks, and as fully expected he made an emotional appeal for a US-backed No Fly Zone over Ukraine to stop Russia. “I am addressing President Biden, you are the leader of the nation, your nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace,” Zelensky said.

The speech was laced with American patriotic references – clearly also an appeal to the broader US public – to Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Martin Luther King Jr, and an urge for Americans to “remember” the heroism and leadership etched on Mt. Rushmore. The speech further had a consistent theme that Russia had not just attacked Ukraine’s people and values – but that it was attack on “basic human values” and thus the West itself. He specified that 1,000 Russian missiles and drone strikes had rained down on the country since the invasion began on Feb.24.

“Right now the destiny of our country is being decided,” @ZelenskyyUa tells US Congress. pic.twitter.com/LgevGuBsLW

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) March 16, 2022

Early in the speech he called the war “a terror Europe has not seen in 80 years” while quickly invoking that the West should “close the sky” – a familiar refrain. But he also acknowledged “Is this a lot to ask for?…a humanitarian no fly zone?” And seeming to implicitly reply “yes” to his own question – as he knows the White House has said this would assuredly lead to WW3 – he offered an “alternative”…

“If this is too much to ask, then we ask for an alternative – powerful and strong aircraft to protect our people our freedom our land.”

“Help Ukraine, help Europe,” he said. He also urged for “new packages of sanctions” to hit Russia hard “every week” until its military halts the invasion. He further urged sanctions on “all politicians in Russian Federation who remain in their offices” for the “state terror” against Ukraine.

Citing that 100 children have died at the hands of the invading Russian military machine, he urged for the assembly to carefully reflect while watching a couple minute long video, which spliced between peaceful scenes of children playing in city parks and horrific missile strikes on neighborhoods. The short but powerful video ended by freezing the below words against a black screen for a lengthy interval…

Here’s the part of the speech where he invoked MLK to argue for lethal aircraft from the US…

“You have them, but they are on [land] not in the Ukrainian sky, they do not defend our people,” Zelensky said. 

“‘I have a dream,’ these words are known to each of you,” the Ukrainian president said, invoking the words of civil-rights hero Martin Luther King Jr., “Today, I can say I have a need, I need to protect our skies.”

Zelensky references MLK’s “I have a dream” speech and calls for more sanctions against Russia every week “until the Russian military machine stops.” pic.twitter.com/MFMs9JiSuE

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 16, 2022

And the video he played is detailed as follows:

The video showed bombs and missiles hitting civilian buildings and dead and injured Ukrainians. 

It contained some of the most jarring images so far captured from the war, including civilians who were caught under Russian fire as they fled the city of Irpin through what was supposed to be a humanitarian corridor, the bombing of a hospital and maternity ward, pregnant women carried out on stretchers, and the burying of the dead in a mass grave in Mariupol. 

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reiterated Tuesday that closing the sky – as Zelensky has put it – would lead to direct war between NATO and Russia:

“A no-fly zone, which people often shorthand, essentially means us shooting down Russian planes and them potentially shooting us,” Psaki said at her daily briefing.

The president “continues to believe that a no-fly zone would be escalatory,” Psaki said.

“What we have the responsibility to do here is to assess what the impact is on the United States and our own national security,” Psaki said. “A no-fly zone is escalatory and could promote a war with Russia, a major nuclear power.”

Almost simultaneous to the address, the Kremlin issued the following:

RUSSIA ASKS U.S. TO STOP WEAPONS SUPPLY TO UKRAINE IN CALL: IFX
PUTIN: WON’T LET UKRAINE BECOME BASE FOR ATTACKS ON RUSSIA
PUTIN SAYS: WEST IS PUSHING UKRAINE TO CONTINUE THE BLOODSHED BY SUPPLYING ARMS
PUTIN SAYS: THE PROBLEMS OF THE WEST WILL ONLY INCREASE
PUTIN SAYS: USA AND EU HAVE EFFECTIVELY DECLARED DEFAULT TO RUSSIA
PUTIN SAYS: THE WEST DOESN’T EVEN BOTHER TO HIDE THAT THEIR AIM IS TO DAMAGE THE ENTIRE RUSSIAN ECONOMY, EVERY RUSSIAN
PUTIN SAYS: WEST’S ACTIONS ARE SIMILAR TO ANTI-SEMITIC POGROMS IN GERMANY IN 1930S

* * *

President Zelensky’s virtual address before both chambers of Congress, scheduled for 9am eastern time, is expected to include an emotional appeal by the Ukrainian leader to stop the Russian advance by a West-backed no-fly zone. This is precisely what he urged in a speech to Canadian parliament yesterday, for which he received several minutes of standing ovation from Canadian lawmakers. 

Further he’s expected to put pressure on US leadership toward fulfilling of a weapons ‘wish list’ amid the Russian onslaught. He’s asking for more armed drones, surface-to-air missile systems, including Stingers, and more Javelin anti-tank missiles, as well as communications jamming equipment. This part of the request is expected to be fulfilled as Biden rolls out an extra $800 million in military aid to Ukraine. Watch Live:

While there’s been near unanimous bipartisan support for getting more weapons to Ukrainian armed forces throughout the opening 21 days of war, the idea of a no-fly zone has so far been shut down by the Biden administration, given as the US president stressed it would lead to a World War 3 scenario. 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reiterated Tuesday that closing the sky – as Zelensky has put it – would lead to direct war between NATO and Russia:

“A no-fly zone, which people often shorthand, essentially means us shooting down Russian planes and them potentially shooting us,” Psaki said at her daily briefing.

The president “continues to believe that a no-fly zone would be escalatory,” Psaki said.

“What we have the responsibility to do here is to assess what the impact is on the United States and our own national security,” Psaki said. “A no-fly zone is escalatory and could promote a war with Russia, a major nuclear power.”

As the below bizarre exchange from yesterday demonstrates, we can expend mainstream media pundits to seize on Zelensky’s 9am speech to cheerlead Washington into major war and catastrophe:

This is wild pic.twitter.com/CNZZ1wVzcz

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) March 16, 2022

Biden himself last week said bluntly that a no-fly zone would likely lead to “World War III.”