By Howard Goldstein
Unlike the 1991 Persian Gulf campaign against Iraq, when then-President George Bush Sr. enjoyed an approval rating of over 90 percent, the current administration's proposed action has not been received with the same overwhelming public support.
The Bellmores and Merricks are divided on the issue along with the rest of the country, according to an informal Herald poll. Both pro- and anti-war stances have vocal supporters locally, with many residents dividing their concern over Saddam Hussein's contraband arsenal and the American government's judgment and motives in speeding to war.
Tim Carter, a Merrick real-estate agent, did not like the prospect of war, but found it preferable to an Iraq armed with weapons of mass destruction. "I'm for [the war]. I'm not happy about it, but it is something that needs to be done," said Carter.
Merrick Vietnam War veteran Tom Burns expressed no remorse over plans to attack Iraq. "You can't reason with countries like this, and we have to protect ourselves," he said.
Those in favor of military action often cited Hussein's flagrant violations of international law.
"I am 100 percent in support of war with Iraq," said Brett Pasquerelli, a university student from Merrick.
"Iraq broke the 1991 armistice treaty years ago," he said. "Every time they shoot at a U.S. or British plane [over the 1991 Armistice zones designated for Allied patrol but off limits to the Iraqi military], it is legal justification for war.
"The United Nations," Pasquerelli continued, "has passed 17 resolutions for Iraqi disarmament, and Iraq has broken every one, including Resolution 1441, the 17th 'last chance.' If the U.N. won't act when its own resolutions are broken, the U.S. doesn't need them to invade Iraq."
Some people questioned the choice of Iraq as America's first strike; many other countries unfriendly to the U.S. also have or are developing weapons, and North Korea already has nuclear bombs and long-range intercontinental missile launchers.
Pasquerelli has considered this argument, but says there is a difference between North Korea and Iraq. "Has North Korea ever used weapons of mass destruction?" he said. "No. Has Iraq? Hussein used poison gas to kill over 3,000 Kurdish men, women and children in his own country, as well as against Iran in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. He has used weapons of mass destruction and will do so again."
Still, with the international coalition against Iraq down to only four members -- including the United States, Great Britain, Spain and Bulgaria -- and with the U.S. unable to tie Iraq directly to the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C, many residents are skeptical about heading to war.
"I don't think we [the people] know half of what's going on," said Ron Bianco, a Bellmore tattoo artist. "The public is lied to in general."
"It's politics and propaganda," said Cindy Taylor, a Merrick gift shop owner.
"We're just the lowly little tax payers at the mercy of the rich," she said. "The public doesn't know what the truth is anymore. If they institute a draft, there go our babies."
Alex Alexiou, a technical support worker from Bellmore now working in Boston, recently attended an anti-war rally in that city. He, however, did not start out as anti-war.
"I'm not a pacifist," Alexiou said. "I was very much in support of the military action taken against the Taliban in Afghanistan. When this Iraq business started, I was neither in favor nor opposed, but needed to study the issue.
"I believe," he said, "our most imminent threats come from Al-Queda and similar groups, and North Korea, who can now sell them weapons of mass destruction and sophisticated firing apparatus.
"I think the Bush administration has shown it is completely uninterested in diplomatic solutions," Alexiou said, "If so, then the war was determined months ago and is part of some ulterior design for restructuring the Middle East."
Alexiou also said, "Let the U.N. inspectors do their job. I think we can contain Hussein without a bloody land invasion that will claim American and Iraqi lives."
