To war or not?

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The United States is closing in on Iraq. The United Nations weapons inspectors are again asking for more time to make their conclusions about Saddam Hussein’s arsenal.

Meanwhile, the call for peace has resonated throughout Philadelphia and the world with a multi-city, multinational march against the war.

But despite the thousands who took to the streets of Center City on Saturday to decry President George W. Bush’s hard-line threat of imminent war against the country bordered by Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, some say war is the only answer.

"Do you remember 9-11? Do you want that again?" posed Bill Guarnere, a World War II veteran and one of the real-life war heroes upon which the book and HBO movie Band of Brothers was based.

Guarnere, of the 2200 block of Winton Street, fought in the now-famed 101st Airborne paratrooper division. He’s quick to point out that he doesn’t support the war in Iraq for the sake of the battle.

"I don’t want war," said Guarnere. "I’ve seen enough death and destruction to last a lifetime. I think you’ll find that most veterans don’t want war, but if backed against the wall, you must fight. If push comes to shove, I’ll join the Army."

Vietnam veteran Ed Morris said it’s disheartening that so many Americans now are opposing the Bush administration’s stand.

"To be quite honest, if I was young enough I would go [to war]," said Morris, a retired Air Force sergeant from the 7200 block of Guyer Avenue. "Nobody is rallying around our president or our troops. That’s the saddest part.

"The terrorist attack woke a lot of people up, and then they forgot about it."

Morris, who served in the 111th Fighter Wing division, said his former unit is already stationed in Iraq. While war is not the ideal response, he said, it may be the only one.

"I don’t want a war. Nobody wants war."


Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell insisted that more time for U.N. weapons inspectors was not the answer. Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix countered by announcing that U.N. findings and Iraqi declarations were in check. On Friday, top inspectors reported they had found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. They also said they still could not account for 1,000 tons of chemical weapons in the Middle-Eastern nation.

But the U.N. has not authorized a call to arms just yet, despite the Bush administration’s push to declare war.

"A majority of American people in polls have said they do not want the U.S. to act outside the U.N. on this," said Princeton University graduate Karyl Weber, who opposes the war. "That view is not being respected by our legislators or President Bush.

"I specifically don’t think this war is justified," clarified Weber, of the 300 block of Titan Street. "I think there are some circumstances where war is justified, but not in this case."

As evidenced by Saturday’s peace march in Philadelphia and in cities throughout the globe, Weber is in good company. Here, the Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network (PRAWN) staged the massive rally. The crowd of 10,000 made it the largest peace demonstration in city history, officials estimated.

Lynn Robinson, a South Philly middle-school teacher, joined PRAWN’s demonstration as an individual and for her organization, the East Timor Action Network. The group formed in 1991 when Indonesia was occupying the small island nation.

"First of all, I’m against killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians," said Robinson, a Pennsport resident. "The war has been going on since the Gulf War. The U.S. has been bombing in the no-fly zone, and the sanctions have killed a million people — 500,000 of which are children."

Robinson said she gleaned those statistics from U.N. reports from UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

Weber, who holds a degree in history, said the Bush administration is using America’s grief and fear in the aftermath of Sept. 11 to mobilize support for the war.

"Saddam Hussein is not Osama bin Laden," she said. "There has been a long history of the two being very philosophically opposed to one another. There’s only been extremely circumstantial evidence between al-Qaeda and Iraq. We were attacked by al-Qaeda, not Iraq."

Robinson echoed Weber’s belief. "I don’t see any proof that the government of Iraq is cooperating with terrorists, and I don’t see any proof that they were involved in Sept. 11."

Morris, the Vietnam veteran, maintained that proof of a connection between Hussein and the terrorist organization exists. "When you look at it, it’s all connected — where the money is coming from and who is supplying [al-Qaeda]."


Robinson noted that so far, there is no real indication that Iraq even possesses nuclear weapons — the reason Bush cites for war in the first place.

"As big a tyrant as [Hussein] is, he’s not stupid enough to use biological or chemical weapons against us because he knows we would obliterate him," she said. "And he doesn’t have the means to transport a missile to America. He has the capability of attacking a neighboring country."

Even if the Iraqi leader has such weapons at his disposal, Weber said, he would not be the first. "There are nuclear and biological weapons in nations all over the world. Iraq is not unique in that."

Weber is adamant about the U.S. not nipping things in the bud with military action.

"[The] threat has not happened yet. It is the duty of a major power of the world not to jump the gun — to hold its power in reserve and go to war only in response to a clear act of aggression by another country," she said.

"Iraq has not attacked the United States. President Bush has completely changed the rules of international engagement by suggesting preemptive war is acceptable. If we change the rules, we have to expect the rest of the world will do the same."

World War II veteran Guarnere conceded that, even if war against Iraq is the only viable answer, military action is a no-win situation.

"In war, there are all losers — even the winner."