Letter: Situation in Ukraine is like Cuba was for U.S.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I am a naturalized citizen of the United States, and I am very afraid. I celebrated my 60th anniversary of arrival in this blessed land Feb. 13. Blessed land, indeed. But I am afraid now and should like to say a word or two about the U.S.-Russian situation in Ukraine.

When the USSR was installing missiles in Cuba, President Kennedy declared, in effect, remove them, or we are talking war. Nikita Khrushchev realized the legitimacy of the U.S.'s position and pulled out the missiles.

In fairness, Russia now feels that gut-wrenching fear that we felt back in those days. Russia fears the day when Ukraine has joined NATO and the U.S. has begun to install missiles at Russia's door. This is the essence of the conflict, and it frightens me and my family.

Unfortunately, except for one or two scholars (Steve Cohen, for one) everybody else (on CNN, anyhow) seems to be beating the war drum. My family and I are scared, and you should be, too. Think of nuclear bombs flying.

Mike Beheshti

North Salt Lake