Mideast students react to war
Junior Ahmad Khalil, however, has family members trapped in Baghdad right now.
"I want them to get rid of Saddam Hussein; my whole life I've wanted him out of that country."
These are the words of Khalil who has not been able to get in touch with his family in Iraq since the war began. His grandfather fled Baghdad, but a lot of his mother's family is still there.
Khalil is one-fourth Iraqi and three-fourths Lebanese. His parents currently reside in Lebanon.
"Now the idea of invading a country is something I don't agree with... The whole Arab world feels threatened by someone invading their region."
Khalil's statements represent the two conflicting sentiments with which the entire Arab world is grappling. He is one of many international students on campus who have lived in the Middle East and have family living there now.
Khalil feels that the Arab world is not as anti-American as the American media portrays them to be.
"In Lebanon they eat at McDonald's and KFC; they like western culture," he said. "Anti-Americanism is felt only among the minority radicals."
He says that the people of Iraq do not want Hussein in power.
"It's called Operation: Iraqi Freedom. By killing Saddam they will make the Iraqis free," he said.
Khalil himself has never been to Iraq, which he attributes to the fact that the country has been at war for most of the past two decades. From 1980 to 1988, the Iran-Iraq War led to millions of deaths. Neither country emerged victorious.
Last summer, Khalil's mother visited Iraq and paid $2 for a haircut that most other people considered a luxury.
After the war is over, he wants the United States to help set up an interim government then leave as soon as possible.
"I support the U.S. troops right now and what they're doing. They're risking their lives for their country and I respect that," he said.
Other Hopkins students from the Middle East have different perspectives.
Senior Charalambos Antoniou's parents live in Egypt, and he visited them over winter break. Most of the people there, he says, are vehemently against the war.
"The way it works, everyone is going to back up his own brother," he said, referring to the strong feeling of kinship among Arab Muslims in the Middle East.
But Antoniou is not scared of a political backlash in Egypt after the war is over.
"I don't think anything will happen," he said.
The parents of sophomore Pascal Patin work for the US State Department in the American Embassy in Israel. They were pulled out of the country in anticipation of the war. During the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq launched several Scud missiles at Israel, but they caused more fear than actual damage. Before the current war, Israelis were worried Hussein might try a similar move.
"People were nervous, everyone made sure they had their gas masks," said Patin, who last visited Israel in December 2002. So far, no missiles have been shot at the country. He also said Israelis were generally in favor of the war.
"I guess the whole thing has the potential to have a positive effect on the region, both my parents and I are reluctantly in support of it," he said.
Tayfun Kircali, a junior international studies major, is one of many students at Hopkins from Turkey. Turkey's government is considered moderate in comparison to other Middle Eastern governments, but before the war, its parliament voted not to allow American troops to use its bases to launch an attack on Iraq in exchange for economic aid in the billions.
"A lot of friends from my school have actively protested the war," Kircali said. "Now that it's already started they just want it to end as soon as possible."
Turkey's primary concern for the aftermath of the war is that the Kurds of Northern Iraq will join the minority Kurds in Turkey in a revolt against the country. The Kurds, who represent about 20 percent of Turkey's population, have been responsible for several terrorist acts against the majority Turkish population. If the Kurds in Northern Iraq break off and form an independent Kurdistan, Turkish citizens fear the terrorism might grow.
The first Gulf War caused an economic recession in Turkey whose economy is still suffering.
"We have lived through hard times in Turkey," said Kircali.
He feels that once the war is over, the United States should let other countries help in the process of rebuilding.
"I think the situation must be dealt with on the international stage. All the countries of the world and the U.N. should participate in the aftermath of the war," he said.
Aysel Madra, a senior from Turkey, was surprised when Turkey decided not to allow U.S. troops into its country.
"Turkey usually does what America tells it to do," she said.
She is also worried about what the Kurds might do after the war ends.
"I think it is a legitimate concern. Turkey isn't going to give up any of its territory or sovereignty," she said.
Sophomore Cem Magripli of Turkey thinks the US should let Turkish soldiers into Northern Iraq though so far the United States has been against any Turkish mobilization.
"The U.S. should allow a certain amount of Turkish troops to be based in Northern Iraq to act as peacekeepers, no more than 1,000 or so," he said.
He thinks Iraq would be best served by a political system similar to the American style, where every state has some independence but also is governed from a central capital.
"It would be best if Iraq were governed with single states with one capital in Baghdad," he said.
Though the war is not yet over, America seems to have the country firmly in its grip and has nearly destroyed the government infrastructure in Baghdad. Khalil hopes the end result will be that the Iraqi people will be able to return to the normal lives that they led before Hussein was in power.
"They want their culture back, they want their civilization back. They want a chance to live like they did before they were ruled by a dictator," he said. Khalil has been unable to contact his family members in Iraq since the war began. They live in an affluent part of the city that was bombed last Tuesday in an effort to kill Saddam Hussein.
"People stay in their homes, but they move wherever they can to stay alive," said Khalil. "I hope to God they all have a place to stay. The probability that their homes are still standing [is] slim to none."