In recent months, President George W. Bush has often stated the United States must topple Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.
Students in Peggy Marko’s social studies class at Clarkston High School tend to agree with the President. The majority of students interviewed believed attacking Iraq is necessary to prevent Hussein from causing further terror.
“I think it’s necessary, because it will only get worse,” Rich Falck said.
Drew Taylor remarked how Iraqis are taught at an early age to despite the United States and what it stands for. “All the people over there have been trained to kill and hate Americans,” he said.
Another student, Jayson Smith, agreed the potential of Hussein to unleash biological weapons on other countries is too great to go unchecked. “I think we need to take out Hussein’s regime,” he said. “One chemical attack could kill thousands.”
Leah Simpson agreed with Smith’s assessment. “Unless we show our power, more innocent lives will be taken,” she said, although she added “there isn’t going to be a perfect time to go to war.”
However, student Randi Mill doesn’t believe a war with Iraq is necessary to solve the differences between the two countries. “There are other ways to solve problems besides war,” she said. “I don’t think anyone’s ready for World War III.”
Mill also believes the media “keeps telling us the same information over and over again.”
Victoria Silverstein also feels an attack against Iraq is not needed at this time. “Iraq hasn’t made an act of war against us, so there’s no point in us going there with guns blazing,” she said.
Despite her support for a strike against Iraq, Simpson doesn’t agree with how the President is dealing with the situation. “I don’t like how he’s handling it,” she said. “I think the President is keeping us in the dark. He’s not telling us everything.”
As far as media coverage of the situation, student Katie Rabette believes they are keeping up their end of the bargain as far as keeping the public informed.
“The media is doing the best they can,” she said. “You can only do so much with so much information.”