03/18/2007

Special to the Record-Eagle/Kevin Johnston
A sign on the door of a downtown Harbor Springs cafe encourages patrons and pedestrians to support troops serving in the Iraq war.

Iraq continues to be a divisive topic

By Craig McCool

cmcool@record-eagle.com

and Vanessa McCray

vmccray@record-eagle.com

Special to the Record-Eagle/Kevin Johnston
The bulletin board in an Alanson barber shop displays articles about area military personnel.

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Submit your views on the war in 100 words or less and they'll be printed in a future edition of the Record-Eagle and online. Write to letters@record-eagle.com.

HARBOR SPRINGS — You don't have to go far in Harbor Springs to find evidence of how the Iraq war divides the country. Less than a block will do.

Inside the Hollywood Market in this Emmet County town, customer Abby Dart perched on a stool, a cheerful smile on her face — until the conversation turned to Iraq.

The corners of her mouth turned down and the cheer washed out of her expression. She appeared angry.

"I was totally opposed from the beginning. It was a mistake, and the facts have borne out that it was a mistake,” she said.

A half-block away, at a restaurant called Mary Ellen's Place, the same look crossed Ed Koza's face when someone mentioned Iraq.

But for Koza, retired from the real estate business, the anger is directed at those who believe, as Dart does, that U.S. troops should come home now.

"Look, no one likes war,” Koza said. "When we started this war and went in, there was no hiding the fact that it was going to take a long time. The biggest problem I see is we don't have enough troops.”

Koza's sermon gathered steam like the temporarily forgotten cup of coffee in front of him.

"It may sound simplistic, but we're either going to be fighting people here or over there, and I'd rather fight them over there,” he said.

Nods of agreement came from restaurant owner Mary Ellen Hughes, as she wiped down the lunch counter. "I agree with everything he's saying,” she said.

Koza continued, talking about "all of the progress we're making over there.”

"Day-by-day, there's less violence,” he said. "We're getting in infrastructure, improving the quality of life over there.”

He and Dart apparently get their information from different sources.

"Show me the benefit. Where is the benefit?” Dart said. "It's a tragedy for the American people and a tragedy for the Iraqi people.”

They had just taken a test and the cluster of Northwestern Michigan College students in Traverse City were letting off some steam. They were laughing, standing near a campus building in the spring-like air.

But just get them going about Iraq.

"There's a serious problem over there, and it's our fault that there's a serious problem,” said Emily Golden, 27.

Her frustrations carry over to President George W. Bush, who she believes has a "personal vendetta” that factors in his war policies. Now that the military is in Iraq, Golden thinks it's the United States' "responsibility” to fix the situation. One way to do that is to provide better training and support to Iraqi soldiers, she said.

"You give a man a fish or teach him to fish,” Golden said.

War spending irks Brigette Urick, 35, of Interlochen. The NMC student wonders why schools don't appear as well-supported as the military.

"They are sending more troops; they are spending more money,” Urick said.

"We need to get home..., we had no business going, but now we need to fix it.”

Matthew Vandermey and Ashley Wysocki waited outside the Hall Street bus station in Traverse City on a recent morning.

As buses rolled by, Vandermey, 20, and the teenage Wysocki appeared disillusioned with the war in Iraq.

"I guess we don't really have any business being over there,” said Vandermey.

Bush already ended the reign of Saddam Hussein, and Vandermey suspects that was one of the prime motives for the Iraq military operation. Now, he said, focus should turn to the capture of Osama bin Laden.

Iraq could be better left to Iraqis, he said.

"As far as I know they've got some kind of established government over there, so we could pull (troops) out.”

"My grandfather was in the Vietnam War, and he thought this was going to be just like that,” Vandermey said.

Vandermey considers himself a Republican and said he would vote for Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City mayor's response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks impressed him. Wysocki is less sure about her political party, but knows one thing: "I don't like Bush.”

A haircut at Norm Shafer's barber shop will set you back a few bucks. But the opinions are free.

The Alanson barber's feelings about the war — "I'm no fan of Bush, I'll say that,” — are outweighed only by his support for military men and women.

The sign posted outside of the little shop on U.S. 31 reads "God Bless Justin Paton,” in honor of a local man killed in Iraq last month. Inside, several newspaper clippings about local soldiers, including Paton, are pinned to a corkboard.

"I support the troops, 100 percent,” Shafer said. When he first heard about the problems at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he was offended.

"I was really surprised that conditions were that bad. There's just no excuse for that,” he said. "You can see from that story that our dollars are not going where they should be going.”

A fight on 'our shores'

Ken Grimm applauded Bush's handling of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

And, Grimm's still on board with the war in Iraq and Bush's recent troop escalation.

"If there's any solution to the problem, I think it's going to be a show of power,” he said.

"I don't think we can cut and run.”

The Roscommon man talked politics and strategy as he ate at the food court at the Traverse City mall. Grimm is somber and sure that if the U.S. had not waged war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the nation would have been attacked.

"I think it would be brought to our shores,” he said.

He finds some reasons for invading Iraq "somewhat dubious” and said he was not convinced the terrorists responsible for the 2001 attacks came from that country. Still, he backs a plan of action instead of waiting for another terrorist hit.

Grand Traverse Mall was full of mothers and baby strollers, shoppers grabbing a bite to eat and Nicola and Don Casselman taking one of only a handful of days off work since Christmas.

The Copemish couple work at AAR Mobility Systems in Cadillac, a military-equipment supplier. The company has been busy, as have the Casselmans.

Nicola, 58, and Don, 62, said the factory builds shelters and containers for troops. The company added hundreds of employees in the last few years, the Casselmans said.

Some of the equipment made in Cadillac ends up in Iraq, and it creates a connection between workers and the war effort. Nicola and Don said they often think of the soldiers who will use the products.

Those thoughts grow more poignant when Nicola talks about the death of U.S Army Sgt. Spencer Akers, a native of Tustin and, Nicola said, her one-time neighbor. Akers died in 2005 from injuries suffered in Iraq.

"If we pull out now, then Spencer died for nothing,” she said.

The Casselmans supported the Iraq war when it began and still do.

"We just realize we've got to back our boys,” said Nicola.

But, neither thinks victory is an easy road.

"I think we'll get control as long as we are there,” Don said.

"I don't think you'll ever say, 'We won it,'” Nicola said.