Aggressors can’t be allowed to spawn chaos

Food and products come to us from all over the world. Eastern Iowa’s economy is heavily dependent on aerospace which needs a peaceful world to function fully. The modern world was made possible by maintaining a general peace among developed nations since the end of World War II. This peace was breached by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, similar to the Nazi invasion of Poland.

After serving in Afghanistan, I learned chaos unleashed by war is the enemy of civilization. If Russia’s goals in Ukraine are not defeated, we can expect to see other nations turn to violence to achieve political ends. This invasion clearly puts places like Europe, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Africa, South Korea and Japan at risk but also every other country in the world. When we allow violence to be used to achieve any goal other than self defense, we put our own families' safety at risk. We cannot allow violence to be a successful offensive tool for this reason. You do not know where chaos will lead when it is unleashed.

In 1979, families of those lost on Sept. 11, 2001 never anticipated the agony they would face because the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. The world must stop the chaos unleashed by Russia. Every potential aggressor must know such violence will fail to achieve the aggressors’ goals. To allow these actions to succeed places the lives of innocent children all over the world at risk even in places like Eastern Iowa.

Slaton Anthony

Mount Vernon