After World War I ended, Giulio Douhet, an Italian general and a key proponent of strategic bombing in aerial warfare, wrote that “he who controls the air controls everything.”

It’s been over a century since the “aeroplane” become a vital strategic weapon in that first mechanized “modern war.”

Although aviation technology has led to massive transformation in fighter aircraft, the main objective of achieving air superiority has remained a constant.

Vladimir Putin’s quest to strike a quick decisive blow in Ukraine – as Germany was able to do with Poland to open World War II – has not happened. One reason is Russia’s inability to control the skies.

On paper, Russia has a big advantage, given its larger stable of advanced fighter planes. Entering the war, the Ukrainian Air Force, meanwhile, had an inventory of 225 aircraft, most of which were aging Soviet-era MiG-29 and Sukhoi-27 jets, and heavier Sukhoi-25 jets.

With their country under attack, Ukrainian officials appealed to allied nations to send their MiG-29s since these fighters would require minimal training for Ukrainian pilots to fly.

In a statement posted to its website, the Polish foreign ministry offered to send all 28 of its Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets “immediately and free of charge” to the U.S. air base in Ramstein, Germany.

In return, the statement said, Warsaw “requests the U.S. to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes.”

By transferring the planes to American custody rather than directly handing them over to the Ukrainians, the Polish government would sidestep the logistical challenge of getting the jets over the border.

The U.S. dilemma is not unprecedented. When the Nazi war machine threatened to invade England in 1940, Winston Churchill made a desperate plea to President Franklin D. Roosevelt for help.

Due to the neutrality clause, FDR refused to directly deliver the armaments to Great Britain. To get around this, U.S. delivered aircraft to the Canadian border and drained fuel from the plane. Horses or trucks were used to pull the aircraft over the Canadian border.

Inside the Canadian border, the aircraft were refueled and flown to the nearest Canadian airport, from where they were shipped to Britain.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. committed itself entirely to the war effort and full-scale support to Britain.

Last week, President Biden nixed the Polish request for fighter planes, the administration calling it a “high risk” that would not significantly change the effectiveness of the Ukrainian Air Force. Many U.S. military minds disagree, saying that it would make a difference to the Ukrainian Air Force, especially since the Polish MiGs were upgraded in 2013 and 2014 with new avionics and other equipment.

Last week, 40 Republican senators sent a letter to Biden, urging him to answer the Polish request and send more fighter planes.

“Enough talk. People are dying,” Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said at a news conference. “Send them the planes they need.”

Sen. Tom Cotton accused the administration of giving way to Moscow and that Biden should do more to put Putin on the defensive.

“If we continue to blink every time Vladimir Putin says, ‘Boo,’ it’s not gonna stop in Ukraine. It’s not going to stop in Europe,” Cotton said. The U.S. is bound by NATO’s commitment clause (Article 5) which commits each member to consider an armed attack against one member to be an attack against them all.

The ‘high-risk’ balancing act confronting the Biden administration is how prevent the war from spilling over into NATO countries and escalating into World War III.

It’s possible that we’re already at that inflection point and that Ukraine is the Poland of 1939, the opening act of World War II when the Nazi war machine attempted to expand its a stranglehold across Europe.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.