Local concerns mount with death toll in Iraq

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

For Marilyn Sugino of Makiki, the almost daily reports of U.S. casualties in Iraq were hard enough to handle.

The escalation of violence during the past week has heightened the concerns Sugino and other Hawai'i residents have about the United States' presence in Iraq and the prospects for an eventual withdrawal.

"I just don't know if there are any openings," Sugino said. "I don't really know if there is anything (the United States) can do. It's so sad to see so many innocents killed."

Sugino said she's been paying close attention to recent events in Iraq, including the slaying and public desecration of four civilian contractors (including Big Island native Wesley Batalona), the subsequent U.S. siege of Fallujah, the Shiite uprising led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and fierce clashes with insurgents in Ramadi, Baghdad and other Iraqi cities.

"It's getting worse," Sugino said.

That sentiment was echoed by several people The Advertiser spoke with yesterday at Ala Moana Center, the Navy Exchange, and the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

Almost all expressed some belief that the recent increase in fighting is an indication that the situation in Iraq is at a critical point and that any resolution will likely be a long time coming.

For many residents, the images and accounts of the four civilians being shot by insurgents then having their corpses burned, paraded and hung by an angry Fallujah mob were a shocking affirmation that tensions in Iraq are escalating, not abating.

Ruth Perkins of Pearl City said she was horrified at how "inhumane and barbaric" the attacks were.

Cheryl Peterson of 'Ewa viewed them from a biblical perspective: "Little wars that will eventually lead to the big war, the Armageddon."

PJ Johnson

Johnson said she tries not to pay attention to daily news on Iraq because it's too upsetting.

"I feel it's kind of a Vietnam thing," she said.

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Nathaniel Thompson of Makakilo certainly doesn't want to see another Vietnam. That's why the United States shouldn't withdraw yet, he said.

"Let's get this thing over with," Thompson said. "I don't want this to be another Vietnam where we go in and they pull us out before it's over. Let's finish this thing."

He said the Marines are doing the right thing by cracking down on insurgents in Fallujah.

"They're doing what they should have done in the first place," he said. "Go into the towns, take their weapons away, set a curfew and make sure everyone is indoors after dark. It worked in World War II; it'll work now."

Adam Hefner

"It's like Israel and Palestine," he said. "When you occupy a place, overtly or covertly, your presence is bound to aggravate some people."

Hefner said the best way to soothe that aggravation is for the United States to "take a step back" and let the United Nations or some other international organization take over.

"The Arab world views the United States with suspicion because of our relationship with Israel and our interest in oil," he said. "I think if we bring in a third party, it would allay some of their suspicions and the situation could be defused nonviolently."

That said, Hefner predicted the escalation of violence would continue as Iraqi factions try to gain an advantage in advance of the scheduled U.S. handover of authority to a yet-to-be-defined transitional government on June 30.

"This was bound to happen because of the way the country was divided (after World War II)," he said. "There was a reason why Saddam Hussein became a dictator. It's because the country is very difficult to control."

Rebecca Knuth of Waikiki agreed.

"This type of civil unrest is exactly what I expected," Knuth said. "Hopefully it won't escalate into civil war."

Although Knuth, like Hefner, holds out hope that the United Nations or another third party can help broker peace between Iraq's Sunni, Shiite and Kurd populations, providing needed stability for a new Iraqi government, her actual prediction for the country is bleak.

"I think we'll see a civil war that leads to a fundamentalist regime," she said.

Erika Kiesel

"I don't think we can leave now," she said. "We can't just invade them, overthrow their government and then leave."

Kiesel said the United States needs to convince the Iraqi people that it is an ally in the rebuilding effort, not an aggressor or exploiter.

"Until we do that, public sentiment will continue to turn against us," she said.

Dryck Gransback, a staff sergeant in the Army Reserves, said the deployment of thousands of Hawai'i-based troops and the recent increase in fighting have changed his opinion about the United States' involvement in Iraq.

"At first, I was all for it," he said. "Now, I'm really concerned because we might be called up."

Hefner is among those who think the involvement of a third party, possibly a European country, could help ease tensions and allow for an eventual U.S. withdrawal.

"I don't know if we'll get that kind of cooperation, though, because the Europeans were hesitant to get involved in the first place," he said.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2461.