Two of the three televisions in the Union food court were playing CNN on Tuesday with students attentively watching the latest developments with the “Showdown with Iraq.”
After President George W. Bush’s address Monday, giving Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq, students have garnered mixed reactions about the real possibility of going to war by the end of the week.
Some people think Bush addressed the nation well but do not support the war, such as finance junior Richard Rachal.
“He was very clear and didn’t beat around the bush like most political people do,” Rachal said.
Rachal said he does not agree with war in general.
“It’ll be the definition of our generation that we’ll be telling our kids about,” he said.
Some students are actively against the war in Iraq, like studio arts junior Robert Lee.
“I think it’s crap, personally,” Lee said. “I don’t understand why we’re going to war with this guy.”
Lee said attacking Iraq will not prevent future terrorist attacks; it will make them inevitable.
“It will just add fuel to the fire rather than stop it,” he said.
Both Britain and Spain, two of America’s war supporters, have polled their populations — relatively 80 percent in both countries do not want to go to war, said anthropology senior Caitlin Grabarek.
According to the Associated Press, the American public, by a 2-1 margin, generally supports military action against Iraq to remove Hussein, a slight increase in support from recent weeks, according to a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll Monday.
Dozens of anti-war protesters were arrested Monday outside the U.S. Capitol while protesting the war in Iraq, the Associated Press reported.
      LSU’s Coalition for Alternatives to War in Iraq tried to organize a 48-hour vigil on the Parade Ground until the war starts, but police escorted them off the grounds, Grabarek said.
Systems science graduate student Vikram Rao said if people look at the history of American wars, there always has been some economic goal. This war is just a political game, whether it is really about Hussein or the oil wells, he said.
CAWI will be protesting at the federal building downtown at 4 p.m. the day war breaks out and will hold a public march on March 29 in protest of war.
Other students actively support the war.
The College Republican Alliance will be hosting a pro-war rally at the south gates of campus Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., President Shawn Hanscom said.
Hanscom said Bush made the right decision and will respect and stand by what he has decided to do.
He said the United Nations has been playing the game of extending the deadline to remove weapons of mass destruction for 12 years, and it isn’t working because Hussein has eluded the security council.
Chemical engineering freshman Danielle Landry said war was coming eventually, and the United States might as well get rid of Hussein because he was going to attack the United States anyway.
Jon Bergeron, an environmental engineering graduate student and member of the National Guard, said he supports President Bush 100 percent but is concerned with the long-term effects of war.
He said anti-American sentiment is growing, and power the United States has will diminish after war.
He will not be sent out to Iraq but knows many people who are either there or will be soon.
“They know how to do their jobs,” Bergeron said. “I’m confident in their abilities.”
Student Government President Darrell Broussard said his main concern is giving every human a fair chance at life.
“All we can do is support the troops and people who are fighting for what we believe in as Americans and wish for their safe return,” he said.
English junior Tawn Fox said she thinks the situation is in the hands of God now.
“I believe Christ already prophesied these things to happen,” Fox said. “I’m not afraid; I’m kind of excited — I know Jesus is coming back.”
Other students still are not following the developments and do not care about the war.
“A couple of people I know are in the guard, and I’m kind of worried about them, but I don’t care,” said electrical engineering freshman Emmanuel Noble Enime.
Political science professor Christopher Kenny did not get many things accomplished in his American government class Tuesday because he was discussing pros and cons for going to war.
In his classes, he said he sees more pro-war students than anti-war, but Tuesday one of his students was “livid” about going to war.
Kenny said in Louisiana, there is no clear distinction between Democrats and Republicans in reference to support for the war.
“There are some conservatives who still identify with the Democratic party,” he said. “There are people active in Democratic politics who are the strongest supporters of the war.”
Both Sen. Mary Landrieu and Sen. John Breaux are supporting Bush in going to war, Kenny said.
For students here, the only effects they may see will be slightly increased gasoline prices and more personal involvement — knowing someone who is going to fight in Iraq, he said.
“It’s on,” he said. “We’re ready; I don’t think there’s any way to avoid it now.”