Liz Snyder, a senior at Free State High School, sought student opinions on the U.S. war in Iraq. Here are some excerpts from the responses she received:

I am Bassem Chahine, and I am proud to be a Lebanese. I do not support the war against Iraq, but now that we are there, I support the troops who had been promised by President George Bush to disarm Saddam Hussein and be treated by the Iraqi people with flowers and tears of happiness; but no, I haven’t seen none of that yet. All that I see right now are black bags going back home.

Bassem Chahine

senior, Free State High School

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Our terror alert is orange, but those who are against the war are yellow.

To some, anyone who is antiwar is as much of a “coward” as the men who flew planes into the World Trade Center. To some, the French are now “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” who don’t know who they’re talking to and aren’t appreciative of how we’ve saved them before. Even people who supported the moderate former President Bill Clinton are now demonized as “the ones who got us into this mess.”

Some say that we must suspend our First Amendment rights in this time of crisis. According to White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, “Americans need to watch what they say,” at any time, Constitution or no.

I didn’t want this war. I resent having to watch with “shock and awe,” as I think — not in my name.

Rachel McCarthy-James

junior, FSHS

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My view of the war is not strong on the war or peace side. I believe that our government is not giving the full side of the story. (But then when does it ever?) I mean, Peter Arnett was fired because he talked on the Iraqi station without consent of NBC. Technically, according to our dear Constitution, we can say what we want. Voltaire made a comment once that I think relates to this, and I support his quote: “I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Lauren Bornstein

sophomore, FSHS

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The word “peace” has numerous definitions, but peace advocates interpret the word as freedom from war and civil strife. Violent antiwar protests are not widely condoned, or practiced, in the antiwar community. Violent demonstrators represent a small, extremist faction of international peace advocates — much like the Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps’ organization) represents a small, extremist faction of Christianity. It is unfair to focus on the violence of antiwar extremists while disregarding the worldwide multitude of peaceful antiwar demonstrations.

In regards to the public unrest protesters have recently initiated, one must remember the individual rights granted to American citizens. Preservation of American freedoms, specifically the freedom of assembly, is imperative while our country “defends” the freedom of other nations. For example, there have been many remarks made to the antiwar demonstrators such as “get a job” and “go home, you communists!” These statements go against the very ideals the people yelling them are trying to uphold because they contradict the underlying principle of our government, the power to change. In the words of one of the peace chants, “This is what democracy looks like!”

Aryenish Birdie

senior, Lawrence High School

and Patrick Tyrrell

junior, LHS

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My response to the war is it is about time. Finally, we have stopped messing with Saddam Hussein and are getting down to business. I feel that we and the rest of the United Nations have been leading Hussein around by the hand and giving it a little tap if things got out of control … I, for one, fully support President Bush in this action.

Jason Vannicola

senior, FSHS

¢

I am Bassem Chahine, and I am proud to be a Lebanese. I do not support the war against Iraq, but now that we are there, I support the troops who had been promised by President George Bush to disarm Saddam Hussein and be treated by the Iraqi people with flowers and tears of happiness; but no, I haven’t seen none of that yet. All that I see right now is black bags going back home.

Bassem Chahine

senior, Free State High School

¢

My view of the war is not strong on the war or peace side. I believe that our government is not giving the full side of the story. (But then when does it ever?) I mean, Peter Arnett was fired because he gave away some military positions, and he talked on the Iraqi station without consent of NBC. Technically, according to our dear Constitution, we can say what we want. I’m confused as to why, if we are so positive that we are going to win this “war” that we freak over the hinting of where some of our soldiers were. You don’t just fire one of the most well-known reporters for one mistake. That’s crap, that’s ludicrous and just plain dumb. Voltaire made a comment once that I think relates to this, and I support his quote: “I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” The fact that these people are over there reporting events at the risk of their own life and then we fire them for something they said in the rush of the moment – what stupidity. I fully support the people we have over there, but because the government is hiding material from us always, I feel that I don’t have enough reason to support our government or the reasons they gave us for going to war.

Lauren Bornstein

sophomore, FSHS

¢

Our terror alert is orange, but those who are against the war are yellow.

To some, anyone who is antiwar is as much of a “coward” as the men who flew planes into the World Trade Center. To some, the French are now “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” who don’t know who they’re talking to and aren’t appreciative of how we’ve saved them before. Even people who supported the moderate former President Bill Clinton are now demonized as “the ones who got us into this mess.”

Some say that we must suspend our First Amendment rights in this time of crisis. According to White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, “Americans need to watch what they say,” at any time, Constitution or no.

I don’t think that our civil liberties are being saved by the war in Iraq. Saddam is not going to come over and rip up the Constitution. But I support our troops.

I didn’t want this war. I resent having to watch with shock and awe, as I think, not in my name. But we’re in it for the long haul now, like it or not. Now the most important thing is to end this war so that our troops can return home.

Rachel McCarthy-James

junior, FSHS

¢

The word “peace” has numerous definitions, but peace advocates interpret the word as freedom from war and civil strife. Violent antiwar protests are not widely condoned, or practiced, in the antiwar community. Violent demonstrators represent a small, extremist faction of international peace advocates – much like the Westboro Baptist Church (Fred Phelps’ organization) represents a small, extremist faction of Christianity. It is unfair to focus on the violence of antiwar extremists while disregarding the multitude of peaceful antiwar demonstrations currently taking place around the world.

In regards to the public unrest protesters have recently initiated, one must remember the individual rights granted to American citizens. Preservation of American freedoms, specifically the freedom of assembly, is imperative while our country “defends” the freedom of other nations. For example, there have been many remarks made to the antiwar demonstrators such as “get a job” and “go home, you communists!” These statements go against the very ideals the people yelling them are trying to uphold because they contradict the underlying principle of our government, the power to change. In the words of one of the peace chants, “This is what democracy looks like!”

When living in a country with free speech rights, one must take the risk of being offended or interrupted by the opinions of others. While it is true that violent peace protests are inherently hypocritical, they are part of the price we pay for having free speech. Luckily, the cases of current protests leading to violence are few, thus proving that the majority of peace demonstrators do indeed “practice what they preach.” As the Nobel prize-winning writer Elie Wiesel stated, “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

Aryenish Birdie

senior, Lawrence High School

and Patrick Tyrrell

junior, LHS

¢

My response to the war is it is about time. Finally, we have stopped messing with Saddam Hussein and are getting down to business. I feel that we and the rest of the United Nations have been leading Hussein around by the hand and giving it a little tap if things got out of control. Hussein is a mean, ruthless leader and needs to be dwelt with, and I for one fully support President Bush in this action. I wish that other countries backed us, but I’m glad that President Bush has enough guts to do what he feel is right, no matter what the U.N. thinks. This bold step warns any that would try other terrorist attacks, or those who threaten our country that we will not sit idle; we will attack, and attack hard.

Jason Vannicola

senior, FSHS

¢

The war? The only reason were at war is because President Bush is afraid that Saddam is becoming to powerful to handle. More powerful than the United States? Heaven forbid we be second in power! But there are reasons why the president feels run over by him. His father was not successful with him. So leave it to the son to finish his job. But for what? For his decision, it’s costs hundreds of lives and prisoners of war. Why should we put our fellow Americans in such a position? I’m not saying I’m opposed to the war or if I’m even for it. My brother is in the Navy but is not overseas. But I know I would be devastated if I were to find out my brother was killed or a prisoner of war. But hopefully this war is coming to an end, and we won’t have anymore problems with terrorists or Iraq. That just takes time and powerful people to make good decisions.

Hanna Bernhardt

senior, FSHS

¢

I am so confused about this war situation. I know I don’t know all the facts about why President George Bush is doing what he is doing, and I don’t know all the secrets within the Iraqi government … but I do know one thing: My heart breaks every time I see a picture of an explosion or a soldier getting hurt. My heart breaks when I read in the paper that innocent women and children have been killed because of Saddam Hussein. Those feelings that I have aren’t all toward Bush. No, I don’t think war is the answer, and I think there are many other things we could have tried first. But at the same time, why would someone want to hurt his own people? I think Saddam is a crazy man and should be stopped because he is killing more than we are now fighting to save them. I don’t know what the right answer is to all of this war confusion. I do know that all I want is peace in my world, and I support the soldiers because I know they are just doing what they have been told to do. They are just doing their job. Freedom wasn’t just given to our country; we had to fight for it in the beginning. God bless our country!

Kim Livingood

junior, FSHS