Sheldon Richman: Keep the US Out of Ukraine's Mess
President Obama insists he does not regard the conflict in Ukraine "as some Cold War chessboard in which we are in competition with Russia." He'd be more credible if he were not following his predecessors in acting as though the Cold War still exists. Although the Soviet empire, including its Warsaw Pact alliance, disbanded beginning in 1989, Republican and Democratic presidents have pursued aggressively anti-Russian policies up to the present. One thing we can know for sure, writes Sheldon Richman, is that the United States should steer clear of Ukraine. It is none of the U.S. government's business whether that country is economically closer to Russia or the European Union.