New York (JTA) — When asked about a possible U.S. war on Iraq, Marcy Pepper takes no prisoners.
“Bomb them,” Pepper, 43, said recently, while working out at Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community Center.
“Get rid of him,” she said, referring to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. “The Israelis should have done it already.”
But Milwaukeean Michelle Wales, 35, isn’t so sure about war.
Business manager at the Cancer Center of the Medical College of Wisconsin and mother of a 14-month-old, Wales said, “I go back and forth…. I want to protect Israel and the U.S., but I don’t know if we’re ready to enter a war.
“Maybe I’m an optimist but I don’t think [a war] is inevitable if Saddam Hussein would comply with inspections. But who knows if he’ll really show all the weapons he has,” she mused.
She believes that “the U.S. should get some kind of backing — U.N. or some kind of coalition. And more so for the rebuilding of the country if [Saddam] is defeated.”.
Gerald Levy, 70, president of Guaranty Bank in Milwaukee, supports President Bush’s get-tough approach.
“I think he’s getting all the players in alignment to force war if necessary. There won’t be any thorough inspections unless Saddam thinks the U.S. is serious. We’ve been at this inspections issue for 10 years and it hasn’t worked.”
But he also thinks that “once the U.N. aligns with Congress … Saddam will back down.”
Retired Milwaukee businessman Fred Bamberger, a spry and with-it 93-year-old, would support a war “only if such military action is approved by the Congress and authorized by the U.N…. If, after that, Saddam doesn’t cooperate, then I think we need to go in.”
Bamberger also believes that a war can be prevented. “In his speech Oct. 7, Bush didn’t say that a war is inevitable, but that the U.S. must be prepared to take action if necessary.”
As the United States prepares for a possible invasion, U.S. Jews — like other Americans — are weighing issues of war and peace. Like Bamberger, a majority of Jews interviewed across the country appear to support a U.S. invasion, especially if all other options are exhausted.
An unscientific sampling of ordinary American Jews seems to reflect the position of the organized Jewish community, which over the weekend issued a statement backing the Bush administration’s use of force against Iraq “as a last resort.”
Others are skeptical that the Bush administration has done all that it can to avoid war.
Mitzi Gollman of Lyndhurst, Ohio, is emphatic that the U.S. needs more information about the Iraqi threat before taking military action.
“I want proof of Hussein’s weapons,” she said. “If Chaim Pupik went and saw them, I want to know what he saw,” referring to a Jewish version of John Doe.
Not only is Gollman concerned about the potential loss of American soldiers during an Iraqi invasion, she is worried about the massive amounts of money the U.S. government would have to spend on military actions.
“The economy is already in the toilet,” she declared. “People on fixed incomes are really having a hard time.”
Concern for Israel
Some U.S. Jews see the issue as an American one, with little particularly Jewish aspects. But for many U.S. Jews, the issue has a double sword — since any military action in Iraq is likely to have ramifications for Israel.
Wales acknowledges that her concern for Israel plays an “integral part” of her thinking because “we have to help [Israel] preserve its safety from the missiles [Saddam] has, or biological or chemical weapons. Although, in truth, I don’t think Israel would wait around for our help this time; I think they’ll do it themselves,” she said.
Israel also weighs on Levy’s mind. “Iraq has been an ongoing threat to Israel for a long time,” he said. “I think a change, even a forced change, will be a positive thing for the whole region. However, I think Israel should maintain its focus on resolving the Palestinian situation.”
And he believes that whatever happens in the long-term, “Things will be better for the Iraqi people than they are now.”
Bamberger and Wales also expressed concerns for the aftermath of war in Iraq. Bamberger said “the U.S. should help develop a proper plan for a new government after Saddam is out.” And Wales said her vision of political improvement included democratic elections, a better leader and a moderate government.
Whether the Jewish community should speak up for or against war is also open for debate.
After remaining relatively silent on the issue, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations has expressed support for Bush and Congress in seeking to make Iraq destroy its weapons of mass destruction and stop weapons development programs.
“Iraq must conform to the resolutions adopted by the Security Council and the other standards which President Bush has specified,” its resolution says. “We support the efforts to enlist the United Nations and international cooperation to secure Iraqi compliance, including the use of force as a last resort.”
The statement was seen as an attempt to placate critics who said that an explicit warning of military action was needed and those who said that nonviolent tactics needed to be endorsed as well.
On the local level, Jews are less clear whether the Jewish community should speak up. Milwaukeean Wales is not one of them.
“I don’t think Jewish leaders should go out front on this one,” she said. “I don’t think anybody wants a war being put on our heads or [thinking that the U.S.] is going to war to protect Israel, which isn’t true. But that perception would be out there if people were looking for it.”
Jonah Lobell, a 39-year-old Manhattan attorney attending an Oct. 7 dinner of the Orthodox Union’s Institute of Public affairs, disagrees.
Jews should be more outspoken in supporting a U.S. war. Israel has had “unprecedented” support from this administration, and Jews should return such support, he said.
Congress needs to “appreciate the importance of this issue to the Jewish community today,” Lobell said.
(JTA staff writer Rachel Pomerance in New York; correspondents Sharon Samber in Washington and Tom Tugend in Los Angeles contributed to this report; as did Elana Kahn-Oren and Mardee Gruen of The Chronice staff. The Cleveland Jewish News, the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle and the New Jersey Jewish News also contributed. The piece was compiled by JTA staff writer Peter Ephross in New York and Chronicle executive editor Vivian M. Rothschild in Milwaukee.)
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