Campus body reacts to war with mixed emotions
Fear high for loved ones in armed services
By Lara Hendrickson
Staff Reporter

As President George W. Bush announced the official beginning of war Wednesday evening, student and faculty reactions were a mixture of fear and relief regarding U.S. military action.

Lynn Jones, a sophomore political science major, said the war personally affects her because her brother is a direct participant. Jones said her brother is in the Army and was supposed to be discharged in May, but his position is now being frozen and her family is not sure when he will be released.

“My brother is currently stationed in South Korea, but his job is in radar communications and it is imperative that they have people to detect any retaliation from Iraq early,” Jones said.

Jones said her brother was just accepted to TCU for the fall. Now her family is not sure he will be in the United States, much less at the university, she said. Jones said Bush is making a boldly negative statement in his declaration of war.

“I think that Bush is risking our safety and our relationship with other countries who do not see the need for our invasion of Iraq,” she said.

Political science professor Manochehr Dorraj said the Bush administration is betting its political fortune as the war progresses. Dorraj said we were the victims in the eyes of other countries after Sept. 11, but now Saddam Hussein is seen as the victim.

“There have been about 10 million people in an anti-war march, and this is the largest anti-war protest from the Europeans,” Dorraj said. “The Europeans aren’t happy with Bush’s diplomacy. The U.N. is not happy with Bush’s diplomacy violation of international law.”

Dorraj said the best way for the war to unfold will be a quick victory, eliminating Hussein and letting the Iraqi people choose their own government.

Junior finance major Wes Bender said Bush’s motivations are pure and that he is glad the United States is moving forward in the pursuit of the change of regime in Iraq.

“I have to stand behind the belief that our president is doing the right thing,” Bender said. “The fact that he is risking re-election to do this is admirable.”

Col. James House, chairman of military science, said while it would be inappropriate for him to second-guess the president, he is very concerned with the situation in Iraq because of friends stationed there.

“This will obviously impact everyone’s lives,” House said. “It was a tough decision President Bush had to make, but I support it completely.”

House also said this will in no way affect the ROTC program. He said no cadets here are available for mobilization, because TCU does not have a reserve unit and more than 90 percent of cadets are on scholarship.

“We spend very little time on the technical and tactical piece of soldiering or combat operations. The majority of material is focused on leadership development,” House said.

l.c.hendrickson@tcu.edu