In US military town, views differ over Iraq
Source: Reuters
(Corrects location of Columbus in paragraph 16 to say it is on the Chattahoochee River, but does not straddle it) By Matthew Bigg COLUMBUS, Ga., Jan 11 (Reuters) - At the Victory Pawn and Trading Post in a military town on the Georgia-Alabama state line the talk one day after U.S. President George W. Bush announced an increase in troops is all about Iraq. "I've got to support the president," said Rick Johnson, a former serviceman and the store's owner as he waited on customers. "I jumped in the boat when he jumped in the boat. I am not going to jump out now." But Johnson and other staff members said that just because they backed the Iraq war and the president, it didn't mean their support was automatic or unqualified. The complexity of the situation, the difficulty of securing victory even with extra troops and above all by the continual loss of U.S. lives left questions, Johnson said. "He (Bush) is saying we should stay in there until we fix it. It doesn't mean we shall stay in here until we all die," he said, adding that the world should look to the United Nations to solve problems rather than always turning to Washington. Mark Waterston, 46, a former Army ranger, said he was gung-ho in his youth but now had doubts about the wisdom of going to war, arguing diplomacy could have solved the issue. "Now we're in what do we do? I don't know. I think it's an injustice to pull out after all those lives lost. But staying in will only cost us more lives. I don't know the answer," he said. The pawn store is close to the massive Fort Benning military base where Bush addressed troops on Thursday and the presence of troops and their families means that many in the town support the president over Iraq. "We're behind him (Bush) 100 percent," Deborah Tanish was quoted as saying by the local Ledger-Enquirer newspaper. Tanish, whose stepson died in Iraq, was due to meet Bush at the base. "THE ONLY WAY" There are dozens of pawn shops in the town serving mainly military families who were struggling financially as well as people on low incomes. Guitars and a bass drum greet customers when they first walk in to Victory Pawn but the shop was stocked with guns and other hunting equipment, electrical goods, tools, jewels, CDs -- anything that customers might want to buy, sell or pawn. Business had slumped since the start of the war because many men and women in the service were away and the neighborhood as a whole was paying an economic price, Johnson said, adding it was a sacrifice worth making. Further up Victory Drive and near one entrance to the base around 50 people, some from out of the area, staged an anti-war protest, holding up posters with slogans such as "Bush lied, people died" and "Won't risk his kids, just yours." "I'd like to see a staged withdrawal. Bush has gotten us into something that is a mess whatever we do," said Caryl Lloyd, who lived in Columbus. Jonathan Cook, 24, held up a sign saying "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam" but said few young people in Columbus would join such a protest, arguing that this was a "me" generation. Back at the store, Johnson said he supported their right to protest in the town, which is on the Chattahoochee River. His colleague Robert Anderson, 74, said extra troops were probably necessary. "More troops is the only way he (Bush) can level this thing off," he said.
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