BY MARY M. RALL
Alaska Star

Latseen Benson, 26, shown here prior to his Iraq deployment, is now wheelchair-bound after he was severely injured in a bomb blast Nov. 13. As war casualties escalate, so does the war debate over here, including Chugiak-Eagle River.

As news of casualties in Iraq continue to hit home, Chugiak-Eagle River residents continue to debate the Bush administration's reason for going to war and its strategy for fighting it.

Kevin Morford

"I feel like this war was started without good reasons," Morford said. "I think the United States is perfectly capable of defending itself at home from anything Saddam Hussein could have done and that we didn't have any business in trying to engage in regime change, which I think is ultimately the reason for this."

Morford added there is a price to be paid beyond financial cost, loss of human life, environmental impact and family hardship that result from war.

"It has greatly hurt the morale of the United States and the reputation of the United States around the world as all the information has come out about the torture and extraordinary conveyance of prisoners to other countries that do torture," Morford said. "It's just blown a lot of the respect and credibility that the United States had in the past as the champion of freedom and human rights."

While Morford stresses that it would be prudent for the United States to immediately pull out of Iraq, Eagle River's John Mattison, a retired Army major who served during the Vietnam War, feels quite differently.

"I believe we are making great strides over there, and it would be criminal to pull out now and waste all the effort that's gone into the last four years," Mattison said.

"In '91 when we went in and pushed him (Saddam Hussein) back out of Kuwait...the whole world levied some requirements on the man, and he thumbed his nose.... He's got people in his country that he didn't allow to live, so I don't see a problem with it."

John Mattison

"How hard is it to do a job that you know needs to be done when you don't even think your leaders around you support you," Mattison said. "It just makes it more difficult for them to do the right thing - to make the right calls."

Eagle River's Diane Benson said her general opinion of the war lies somewhere in between the two extremes.

Diane Benson PHOTO COURTESY OF DIANE BENSON

A 2002 gubernatorial candidate representing the Alaska Green Party, Benson said she agrees with Mattison that servicemen have a lot of hard choices to make - she has seen Latseen make them throughout his four years in the Army. Latseen was serving his second tour in Iraq as an infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) out of Fort Campbell, Ky., when he was injured.

Benson says she is fully in support of the country's military, but she said she also believes as Morford does that Americans should be asking hard questions of the Bush administration's war policy in Iraq.

In particular, Benson has questions about the United States' Stop Loss policy on war. She feels that policy forcibly kept Latseen in the Army past his October separation date, just 13 days prior to the patrol on which he was injured.

"I think one of the things I've learned by being involved with the military through my son is...how important it is for us as citizens and civilians to do the asking, to do the talking, to really be certain when we vote that the policies are the right policies," Benson said. "Because what we ask of these fine Americans and our soldiers is something we should be damned sure about."

Although Benson, Morford and Mattison expressed different opinions on the war in Iraq, there was one common denominator - supporting the serviceman.

"Right now I don't want anybody being pitched in any camp," Benson said. "It's about our veterans. All of us, regardless of what we feel about this war, must care about our veterans."

Morford is quick to lay blame for the war, but supports those serving.

"The military, of course, is subject to civilian control, and I think that's the way it should be. So, I think the military is doing what it's been ordered to do," Morford said. "I criticize the Bush administration and its decision to go into war without having a valid reason for starting the war in the first place."

Mattison feels there's a job to be done and supporting the soldiers is a necessary part of the end result.

"I think it's critical to support them whether or not you personally agree with why they're over there. There's no choice involved there," Mattison said. "They've all volunteered, and they've all said they were going to do what they're going to do.... Let's get the job done and get them home as soon as we can, but getting the job done is the most important thing."

Reach the reporter at maryrall.@alaskastar.com.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, December 1, 2005.