Despite strong rhetoric from the Bush administration condemning their country, Iraqis remain generally positive toward the United States.

That was one of the conclusions drawn by Scott Harding, a Kansas University assistant professor who spent last week in Baghdad with a group of U.S. professors who oppose war with Iraq.

“I was struck by the fact that everyone we talked to had high regard for the United States and talked about the U.S. in glowing terms,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting that, because they could be brutally bombed any day.”

The 35 professors, organized by the Atlanta-based Conscience International organization, signed a “No Attack Iraq” petition last year. They spent Jan. 12 through Friday meeting with faculty members at the University of Baghdad, government officials and workers with humanitarian organizations trying to find ways to avoid war.

Harding, who teaches in KU’s School of Social Welfare, said the Baghdad faculty members fully expected war with the United States.

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“They want to be hopeful, but the majority of people we talked to say it’s a matter of when, not if,” he said. “There’s a sense of resignation. There’s not a lot they can do.”

Harding said the American professors found economic sanctions in Iraq had hurt the university there. Professors can’t travel to conferences or receive some scholarly journals necessary for their careers. And the sanctions have generated some anti-American sentiment.

“The sanctions have allowed the (Iraqi) government to entrench itself and solidify support,” he said. “If our government is serious about opening Iraqi society, ending the sanctions is vitally important.”

Harding said although Saddam Hussein’s government restricted the free flow of information at Baghdad University, some professors supported the government because it helped modernize Iraq. Government officials accompanied the American professors during their trip.

Now that the group has returned, Harding — who paid his own way to Iraq — said the professors planned to make presentations about their firsthand experiences. He’s going to speak in Lawrence in the next few weeks, but dates haven’t been set.

“We can humanize this conflict,” he said. “People don’t have a sense for what it’s like to live in Iraq. People like us, with the same hopes and dreams, will be facing bombs. They’ll feel the direct effects of war.”