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MWC students Tim Kuzmuk (left), Ryan Coughter and Kendall Jennings watch the president's speech at J. Brian's Tap Room. |
When President Bush came on TV late last night at J. Brian's Tap Room in downtown Fredericksburg, a crowd of 21st-birthday revelers fell silent.
Someone stopped Bruce Springsteen from singing about "Glory Days" on the jukebox, while someone else turned up the volume on the set.
As Bush spoke about the beginning of a war, one man said quietly, "He's doing it."
No one applauded once the president finished speaking, but no one protested, either. Someone said, "Hear, hear."
Standing at the bar, Mary Washington College junior Tim Kuzmuk of McLean said he is all for invading Iraq and doing whatever it takes to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
"He broke his treaty," the 21-year-old said. "It's for our freedom--it's for everybody's freedom."
Kuzmuk's comments were echoed by retired Air Force Col. Dave Ellis, who watched Bush speak from his home in the Artillery Ridge subdivision in Spotsylvania County. Ellis helped oversee about 85,000 prisoners of war and 10,000 civilian internees during Operation Desert Storm a decade ago.
That conflict saw Iraq driven out of Kuwait, but left Hussein in power. Ellis said he hopes U.S. forces finish the job this time.
"We need to take this guy out and take him behind the shed and give him the spanking he deserves," he said.
"I had hoped we'd be able to avoid this war, but it was something forced on us. But I know in the end, it will be something we can be proud of."
The attack, which the Bush administration had been threatening for weeks, did not come as a surprise. Fredericksburg United Methodist Church held a communion service last night that included a special prayer for the 16 church members who are active-duty military or reservists who are in the Middle East.
"Our prayers are with the men and women of the armed forces and the civilians of Iraq, who have been living under oppression," the Rev. Larry Lenow, pastor of the church, said last night. "We're all united in prayer at this time."
At J. Brian's, Bush's speech interrupted a friendly argument about the imminent war among 39-year-old Bill Strother of Stafford County, his girlfriend, Monika Bork of Lörach, Germany, and her friend Anita Egle of Bad Säckingen.
Strother is all for it; his friends were uncommitted.
Invading Iraq, he said, is about national security and about being ahead of the threat instead of reacting. He said hesitance was what allowed Adolf Hitler to rise to power and start World War II.
Bork and Egle, both 35, didn't flinch at his comments. Both said they'd heard arguments for and against war, and neither thought she knew the answer.
"For me, I see both sides," Egle said.
Other residents expressed concern about Bush's decision to attack.
"War is a bad thing," said Arthur Rhoads of Spotsylvania, a retired Marine staff sergeant who served overseas in the 1960s and '70s. "I question whether we should be there at all. I don't have any idea what the outcome of this is going to be."
Earlier in the day, about 50 Mary Washington College students and faculty members gathered outside Monroe Hall to express opposition to a U.S. invasion of Iraq. The students and professors observed a moment of silence as they stood before a banner displaying the simple message, "NO WAR."
Freshman Aaron Samsel has been active in the antiwar effort through involvement in the Fredericksburg Area Peace Coalition, Fredericksburg Food Not Bombs and the MWC Human Rights Club.
"I really feel like this war should not be happening right now," he said shortly after yesterday's gathering. "The [United Nations'] weapons inspectors didn't find anything."
Sophomore Jackie Mancini said she considered herself "nonpolitical" until the possibility of war with Iraq arose.
"I guess I just sort of pleaded ignorant for a long time," she said. "But once you start hearing everything, you can't ignore it any more."
Rally organizer Judith Parker, associate professor of English and linguistics at the college, said she believes political activism should be part of the college experience. A student at Sarah Lawrence College during the Vietnam War, Parker said she tries to make her classroom a place where students feel free to express their views.
MWC students distributed fliers on campus yesterday afternoon about other upcoming demonstrations.
Food Not Bombs is planning peace rallies for noon today and tomorrow in Fredericksburg's Hurkamp Park. Samsel said that organization and the Fredericksburg Area Peace Coalition will hold another rally at noon March 29, followed by a march to City Hall.
At J. Brian's last night, Kuzmuk said he respectfully disagrees with the protesters. Now that war has started, he said, peace demonstrations should stop.
"I have two close buddies" in the desert, waiting to do their part with the Army, Kuzmuk said. Both were reservists whose units were activated.
Kuzmuk stopped short of wishing he were there with them. But he said the war makes him think seriously about his responsibility to his country.
"I'm a healthy kid," he said. "There's no reason for someone [else] to die for my freedom."
