steven
August 22nd, 2005, 03:05 PM
Nearly four months after Pvt. Charles S. Cooper Jr. of Jamestown died in Iraq, his father said that Cindy Sheehan's vigil at President Bush's ranch insults the memory of her son.
But two years after fighting in the war himself, Jeremy Lewis of Buffalo said Sheehan is showing a lot of courage by focusing attention on a war that, in his view, was built on a lie.
And nearly two years after losing her husband to a roadside bomb, the widow of Spc. Michael L. Williams of Buffalo said she's torn especially about what America should do in Iraq.
No one feels the pain of war as much as those who have lost a loved one in combat or who have gone to war themselves. And as polls show public support for the war slipping and opinions hardening the same emotions play out in the words of those who have suffered and fought.
Among those interviewed by The Buffalo News last week, people who lost relatives generally remain supportive of the war, while a handful of others with close ties to the conflict are, like the public at large, increasingly critical.
The most recent Gallup poll, taken in early August, showed that 54 percent of those surveyed now think the Iraq War was a mistake. That's up from a mere 23 percent at the time of the invasion in March 2003.
Standing at the center of that divide, for the time being at least, is Sheehan, the California mother who set up camp outside Bush's Texas ranch in hopes that he would come out to discuss her son Casey's death in Iraq.
Western New Yorkers who lost close relatives in Iraq aren't about to follow Sheehan to Texas.
"I think they should kick her out of there," said Charles S. Cooper of Jamestown, whose son died when a bomb exploded near his patrol in Baghdad. "I think she's insulting her own kid by going out there and doing that."
Like most other family members interviewed for this story, Cooper said America has to fight to win in Iraq, both for its own safety and for the memory of the fallen.
For example, James L. Matteson, the father of the late Sgt. J.C. Matteson of Celoron, said: "We have to stay the course. (Sheehan's) son and my son and 1,800 others didn't die in vain. I believe it's all about good vs. evil. I'd rather go over and kill them than have them come here and blow up another Twin Towers or convention center or football stadium."
Daniel G. Roustum of Buffalo, whose brother David died in Iraq, said his family understands how Sheehan feels.
"There's no handbook or manual on how to handle this," he said. "She is experiencing this terrible hurt that won't go away, and she wants answers. That's understandable."
As for public opinion, Roustum questioned how much it has changed.
"It's been a long, hard road, and people are going to question whether it's worth it," he said. "But I think Sept. 11 is still fresh enough in people's minds that the American public will support (the government)."
A slow swing
If the public were to swing sharply against the war, that could "cheapen the sacrifices these guys have made," Roustum added.
Yet a slow swing in public opinion is exactly what's occurring.
The Gallup poll taken between Aug. 5 and 7 showed that 57 percent of Americans now think the Iraq War made America less safe from terrorism. That's about the same percentage that said, after the initial invasion in April 2003, that the war had made America safer.
That translates to an increase in activism. Tens of thousands gathered at more than 1,600 vigils Wednesday in support of Sheehan, including dozens who met at Gates Circle in Buffalo. And the Western New York Peace Center has seen its e-mail list grow from 240 to 820 in the past 18 months.
"I can tell you the phone's been ringing off the hook today," Colin Eager, executive director of the Peace Center, said last week. "We're definitely seeing a greatly increased level of activity and strength, particularly in the summer, which is typically a dormant time for activism."
One of the center's activists is Tim Neaverth of Hamburg, whose son, Army Sgt. Thomas Neaverth, was in Iraq for a year and expects to go back soon.
The elder Neaverth cited the 20 Western New York soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, a total he fears could rise toward 30.
"Where will this end?" he asked. "We're mourning the losses, but we're not doing anything about it. If I lost my son over there, I would not want you to send your son over there to avenge my son's death."
Iraq War veterans acknowledge that most of their colleagues remain supportive of the war but some are turning against it.
Lewis, 43, started to have doubts while he was serving in Iraq as a sergeant with the 105th Military Police Company in 2003. The president built his case for war on the argument that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
But then no such weapons were found, and by August of 2003, "I knew the war was a sham," Lewis said.
After returning to America, Lewis left the National Guard and began working with Operation Truth, an organization of like-minded veterans. He now blogs on the group's Web site.
While Lewis admits some mixed feelings about Sheehan, he lauds her courage and is happy with what he's seeing in public-opinion polls.
"The American people have finally started to not believe the lie," he said.
Experts stressed, though, that the decline in support began long before anyone had heard Sheehan's name. They attribute the change to the contrast between the Bush administration's comments on Iraq and the violence that erupts there every day.
On May 30, for example, Vice President Cheney said the Iraq insurgency was in its "last throes." But 195 American troops have been killed since then, up from 168 in the previous three months.
"There does seem to be a disconnect there, doesn't there?" said Karlyn H. Bowman, who tracks polling data at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
Many seem at a loss
For all the criticism of Bush's war policy, many critics seem to be at a loss as to what America should do in Iraq.
The Gallup poll shows a growing number of Americans - 33 percent - favoring a pullout of American troops. Yet that's still far short of a majority, and few members of Congress are comfortable with the idea.
Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-Clarence, said setting a withdrawal deadline could bolster the insurgency.
"They'll wait us out," he said.
And while both of Buffalo's Democratic members of Congress criticize Bush's war policy, neither Rep. Brian M. Higgins of Buffalo nor Rep. Louise M. Slaughter of Fairport is ready to bring the American troops home. They fear that a quick pullout could prompt chaos.
"I want out, but I don't know how to get there," Slaughter said.
That's exactly the sentiment that Carolyn Williams of Buffalo, who lost her husband in the war, is feeling.
She said she wants to respect the president's decisions. She aches for the families that have suffered the same loss she has. She's just not certain about the best course.
"I want all the soldiers home, but it's all so confusing," she said. "I don't know what it would be like (in Iraq) if they all came home. I'm very torn."
Lewis, despite his criticism of the war, also is reluctant to see it end quickly.
"It's like holding a wolf by the ears," Lewis said. "You don't want to hold it, but you don't want to let it go."
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050822/1046919.asp
But two years after fighting in the war himself, Jeremy Lewis of Buffalo said Sheehan is showing a lot of courage by focusing attention on a war that, in his view, was built on a lie.
And nearly two years after losing her husband to a roadside bomb, the widow of Spc. Michael L. Williams of Buffalo said she's torn especially about what America should do in Iraq.
No one feels the pain of war as much as those who have lost a loved one in combat or who have gone to war themselves. And as polls show public support for the war slipping and opinions hardening the same emotions play out in the words of those who have suffered and fought.
Among those interviewed by The Buffalo News last week, people who lost relatives generally remain supportive of the war, while a handful of others with close ties to the conflict are, like the public at large, increasingly critical.
The most recent Gallup poll, taken in early August, showed that 54 percent of those surveyed now think the Iraq War was a mistake. That's up from a mere 23 percent at the time of the invasion in March 2003.
Standing at the center of that divide, for the time being at least, is Sheehan, the California mother who set up camp outside Bush's Texas ranch in hopes that he would come out to discuss her son Casey's death in Iraq.
Western New Yorkers who lost close relatives in Iraq aren't about to follow Sheehan to Texas.
"I think they should kick her out of there," said Charles S. Cooper of Jamestown, whose son died when a bomb exploded near his patrol in Baghdad. "I think she's insulting her own kid by going out there and doing that."
Like most other family members interviewed for this story, Cooper said America has to fight to win in Iraq, both for its own safety and for the memory of the fallen.
For example, James L. Matteson, the father of the late Sgt. J.C. Matteson of Celoron, said: "We have to stay the course. (Sheehan's) son and my son and 1,800 others didn't die in vain. I believe it's all about good vs. evil. I'd rather go over and kill them than have them come here and blow up another Twin Towers or convention center or football stadium."
Daniel G. Roustum of Buffalo, whose brother David died in Iraq, said his family understands how Sheehan feels.
"There's no handbook or manual on how to handle this," he said. "She is experiencing this terrible hurt that won't go away, and she wants answers. That's understandable."
As for public opinion, Roustum questioned how much it has changed.
"It's been a long, hard road, and people are going to question whether it's worth it," he said. "But I think Sept. 11 is still fresh enough in people's minds that the American public will support (the government)."
A slow swing
If the public were to swing sharply against the war, that could "cheapen the sacrifices these guys have made," Roustum added.
Yet a slow swing in public opinion is exactly what's occurring.
The Gallup poll taken between Aug. 5 and 7 showed that 57 percent of Americans now think the Iraq War made America less safe from terrorism. That's about the same percentage that said, after the initial invasion in April 2003, that the war had made America safer.
That translates to an increase in activism. Tens of thousands gathered at more than 1,600 vigils Wednesday in support of Sheehan, including dozens who met at Gates Circle in Buffalo. And the Western New York Peace Center has seen its e-mail list grow from 240 to 820 in the past 18 months.
"I can tell you the phone's been ringing off the hook today," Colin Eager, executive director of the Peace Center, said last week. "We're definitely seeing a greatly increased level of activity and strength, particularly in the summer, which is typically a dormant time for activism."
One of the center's activists is Tim Neaverth of Hamburg, whose son, Army Sgt. Thomas Neaverth, was in Iraq for a year and expects to go back soon.
The elder Neaverth cited the 20 Western New York soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, a total he fears could rise toward 30.
"Where will this end?" he asked. "We're mourning the losses, but we're not doing anything about it. If I lost my son over there, I would not want you to send your son over there to avenge my son's death."
Iraq War veterans acknowledge that most of their colleagues remain supportive of the war but some are turning against it.
Lewis, 43, started to have doubts while he was serving in Iraq as a sergeant with the 105th Military Police Company in 2003. The president built his case for war on the argument that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
But then no such weapons were found, and by August of 2003, "I knew the war was a sham," Lewis said.
After returning to America, Lewis left the National Guard and began working with Operation Truth, an organization of like-minded veterans. He now blogs on the group's Web site.
While Lewis admits some mixed feelings about Sheehan, he lauds her courage and is happy with what he's seeing in public-opinion polls.
"The American people have finally started to not believe the lie," he said.
Experts stressed, though, that the decline in support began long before anyone had heard Sheehan's name. They attribute the change to the contrast between the Bush administration's comments on Iraq and the violence that erupts there every day.
On May 30, for example, Vice President Cheney said the Iraq insurgency was in its "last throes." But 195 American troops have been killed since then, up from 168 in the previous three months.
"There does seem to be a disconnect there, doesn't there?" said Karlyn H. Bowman, who tracks polling data at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
Many seem at a loss
For all the criticism of Bush's war policy, many critics seem to be at a loss as to what America should do in Iraq.
The Gallup poll shows a growing number of Americans - 33 percent - favoring a pullout of American troops. Yet that's still far short of a majority, and few members of Congress are comfortable with the idea.
Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-Clarence, said setting a withdrawal deadline could bolster the insurgency.
"They'll wait us out," he said.
And while both of Buffalo's Democratic members of Congress criticize Bush's war policy, neither Rep. Brian M. Higgins of Buffalo nor Rep. Louise M. Slaughter of Fairport is ready to bring the American troops home. They fear that a quick pullout could prompt chaos.
"I want out, but I don't know how to get there," Slaughter said.
That's exactly the sentiment that Carolyn Williams of Buffalo, who lost her husband in the war, is feeling.
She said she wants to respect the president's decisions. She aches for the families that have suffered the same loss she has. She's just not certain about the best course.
"I want all the soldiers home, but it's all so confusing," she said. "I don't know what it would be like (in Iraq) if they all came home. I'm very torn."
Lewis, despite his criticism of the war, also is reluctant to see it end quickly.
"It's like holding a wolf by the ears," Lewis said. "You don't want to hold it, but you don't want to let it go."
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050822/1046919.asp