Many students attended the anti-war rally Wednesday to voice their opinion that war with Iraq is a necessity and to call on the American public to support the Bush administration's decisions and U.S. troops overseas.
Robert Dietz, a senior biology major, said that Saddam Hussein epitomizes evil and needs to be removed from power in any way possible.
"If war is the answer to this problem, so be it," Dietz said of the threat Iraq poses to U.S. interests globally.
Dietz added that while the anti-war rally was a good chance for the UNM community to voice its opinions opposing President Bush's foreign policies, he believes it will have little to no impact on the eventual outcome of the Iraq conflict.
Megan Cisneros, a junior majoring in history, felt that too many people turned out for the event for the wrong reasons.
"It bothers me that people don't know all of the issues," Cisneros said of the inaccurate comments she said were being pushed on the UNM community by the anti-war protesters.
"President Bush is doing his best to do the right thing for our country and our future," she said. "We elected him, we should support his decisions."
Many of the pro-war advocates at the rally believe that removing Saddam Hussein from power will free the Iraqi people from the harsh dictatorship they have been abused by for far too long.
Amanda Grover, a freshman elementary education major, said that she believes that if the anti-war protesters were fully educated on the atrocities that Hussein has brought upon the Iraqi people, they would not be fighting to stop the war against him.
"We need to stand together and respect the Iraqi people whose tongues are being cut out when they speak out against this ruthless, malicious dictator," Grover said.
She added that the civilian casualties that will inevitably result from a U.S. bombing campaign would be significantly less than the number of people murdered through Hussein's daily genocidal practices.
The students at the rally advocating the war on terrorism also said they believed that the anti-war protesters are disrespecting the soldiers who are putting their lives on the line to protect the protester's way of life.
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"The right to protest that is being exercised by these people is only available because of the soldiers who are courageously fighting the people whose intent is to destroy the United States and everything it stands for," said Marshall Daniels, a sophomore computer science major.
"Organizing a rally to disrespect those people who are ensuring those freedoms for generations to come is as un-American as it gets," Daniels said.
He added that the anti-war protesters should move to Iraq and see how their lives are once they have the liberties that they take for granted stripped from them. He said that they would be begging for a country like the United States to intervene.
A local television news reporter covering the event summed up the rally by saying that while it is important for students' voices to be heard on important matters, both sides of Wednesday's protest were inaccurate and uninformed on the information they were pushing on the community.
"I think the anti-war protesters need to do their homework before they start dishing out inaccurate information," he said. "At the same time, those supporting President Bush and his foreign policies need to re-evaluate their information for its accuracy as well."
