What struck Sergeant First Class Andrew Gasaway most about being in Iraq for the first time in March 2003, he said, was how apparent it was that the country had been governed by what he called a dictatorship.
“Everything had Saddam on it ““ street signs, buildings, pictures,” said the now senior military instructor for the UCLA Reserve Officer Training Corps.
People were afraid to talk about Saddam Hussein or politics, even with their families, for fear they would be imprisoned or killed, he said.
When Gasaway returned for his second tour of duty in January 2005, he was astounded by huge leaps in Iraqi infrastructure. Where once there was no trash service and dirty sewage spilling over into the streets, there were now schools and hospitals, he said.
“It’s incredible to look out at night and see lights throughout the cities, open air markets and even liquor stores,” Gasaway said.
But for all the positive changes he observed, there were steps backward as well ““ sectarian violence was skyrocketing and civilians were starting to feel the influence of groups outside of Iraq.
“Al-Qaida, Saddam loyalists who lost what they had, were causing problems,” he said.
But on the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, political changes have not been limited to Iraqi soil.
Political science Professors John Zaller of UCLA and Gary Jacobson of UC San Diego said this is the most politically divisive conflict the U.S. has ever entered, and there have been huge shifts in public support since the war began.
Constant heat, changing opinions
Though there have been changes between Gasaway’s first and second tours, he said one thing stayed constant ““ Iraqi summers.
Despite temperatures averaging 130 degrees during the day, Gasaway and his men wore full battle gear and the layers and helmet raised their body temperatures. Though conditions were physically trying, their training helped him and his men focus on the task at hand.
Gasaway has engaged in dangerous combat, including being present for the fall of Baghdad in 2003.
But the most fulfilling aspect of serving abroad both in 2003 and in 2005, Gasaway said, has been the continual and unwavering gratitude he and his men receive from Iraqi civilians.
“People thanked you, old people, young people. They thanked you for giving them their freedom,” he said.
However, though Gasaway said he believes most Iraqi civilians are happy that Americans continue to serve in Iraq, American civilians have not necessarily been as supportive, he said.
While public opinion has shifted greatly since the war began, Gasaway said he and other soldiers give little thought to the notion that the public may not support them. He said many soldiers keep their opinions to themselves and view this war as a part of their job description, regardless of how the public perceives it.
But he said it can be frustrating that Americans make their judgments based on the negative press the war receives, rather than the positive impact he knows he and his men have had.
“(The media doesn’t) show good things. Seldom have I seen a news report of kids, boys and girls together, in school for the first time or teenage girls learning how to read and write,” Gasaway said.
Though many servicepeople, like Gasaway, remain committed to the Iraq war, Zaller and Jacobson said they have seen substantial changes in the way Americans view the war.
In 2003, most Americans supported the war, Jacobson said. But while public approval of the war peaked in 2004 directly following President Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech, people have since become disillusioned, he added.
Changes in public opinion seem to be concentrated among Democrats and independents, Jacobson said.
He added that he believes the reason Democrats and independents have stopped supporting the war is that many of the initial justifications provided for war have changed, and these voters feel less obligated to support what some see as a Republican issue.
Republicans stuck with the president even when the initial justification of the war ““ including Hussein’s regime, the presence of weapons of mass destruction and possible al-Qaida cells in Iraq ““ fell apart, Jacobson said.
“But people who weren’t sympathetic to the war decided they didn’t like the war, decided they didn’t like (Bush) and felt they’d been misled into war,” Jacobson said.
Zaller said he believes the Iraq war will be a major issue in the next presidential election, but added he cannot predict which party the issue will help.
“It depends entirely on events,” he said. “If there is another terrorist attack, people will ask why didn’t leaders support (the war) more strongly. But it’s not impossible for a surge to go badly, a helicopter with 25 Americans can crash and that changes things from a political standpoint,” he said.
Ultimately, though Americans seem to support the war less and less, Jacobson said they are critical of the war itself, not the men and women fighting it.
“People are not opposed to the soldiers; they support them, they want them out of there,” he said.
A committed future
While public opinion may have changed, soldiers and students planning on joining the Armed Forces said their commitment to serve has not.
Now that he is back, after two tours in Iraq, Gasaway works with students who know there is a possibility they will serve in the country as well. Tamara Dejesus, a third-year history student, said she joined ROTC as a way to contribute.
“It’s something bigger than yourself, a way to be exceptional, to be rewarded. I’m serving my country rather than just going to college,” she said.
But being in ROTC can be challenging as well as rewarding. Johnny Anderson, a fourth-year political science student in ROTC, said it can be difficult to be involved with ROTC on such a liberal campus that primarily opposes the war.
Sandy Vithayanonth, a fourth-year political science student who is in ROTC, said he believes that the changes in public opinion may be due to the fact that Americans may not have the same values as generations past.
“We lack the quality of selfless service. … We’re not willing to make sacrifices,” Vithayanonth said.
Anderson said this detachment may be because many people have not had to directly contribute to the war as they might have had to in the past.
Anderson said he tries not to let the general student opinion against the Iraq war affect him. But sometimes, he said, it can be discouraging.
“It’s hard when we wear our uniforms and there are rallies in Bruin Plaza and we get dirty looks,” he said.
It can also be challenging when they themselves may not agree with the war. But like Gasaway’s men in Iraq, if asked, they will serve regardless of their personal opinions, Vithayanonth said.
“We’re all smart enough to have opinions, we all have our opinions, but we keep them private. Ultimately, we are subservient to the civilian government,” Vithayanonth said.
Anderson said he and his friends refuse to vote while serving because they see it as a conflict of interest.
“We can’t necessarily put our opinion out there. We serve even if someone who gets elected is someone we don’t like. We serve the person, not the party,” he said.
Dan Nelson, a fourth-year history student who is in ROTC, said he is aware that if he is asked to serve, there is a chance he will not come home. But Nelson said it is a possibility he feels prepared for.
“Some of us feel like we’ve been preparing for this our whole lives, some of us feel we were born prepared,” he said.