Iraq forum gives students new view of war

Attending a forum on Iraq gave North Allegheny Senior High School students a chance to hear about the war from people who have had firsthand experience with it.

"I'm really interested in history, and I've never really heard the views from soldiers or someone on the front line," said Laura Musser, 18, a senior from Franklin Park. "Seeing the slide presentation and listening to the soldiers made it (the war) seem more real."

Kyle Zebley, 18, student council president, and Jason Mohr, student council adviser, organized the forum that took place last week at the school. Mohr said more than 80 students attended and that their interests stem from discussions of the war in history and government classes.

"For a volunteer turnout, we had a good showing," said Mohr, who teaches European history. "For some of the students, there's a personal connection to the war because some of their former classmates are now serving in the armed forces."

Zebley, of McCandless, came up with the idea for the forum after Lou Erk, the father of one of his classmates and a staff sergeant in the Army Reserves, returned from active duty.

"The forum gave students the opportunity to get more information on the war from a host of different perspectives," Zebley said. "I feel the turnout was good."

The forum panel consisted of Erk; Schuyler Foerster, president of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh; Grey D. Berrier II, a lieutenant colonel in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and battalion commander of the 1st Battalion, 107th Field Artillery; and Alan Sheffer, head of the social studies department at North Allegheny.

Erk discussed the events of Iraq from a soldier's point of view, Berrier presented a slide show on his unit's work in Iraq, and Foerster discussed issues affecting the state of affairs in Iraq.

"The challenge in Iraq is we have to win the peace. That mission hasn't been accomplished," Foerster said. "Hopefully, by August, Iraq will have a constitution."

Asked what the U.S. has done right in Iraq and what has it done wrong, Foerster responded, "Getting rid of Saddam Hussein, I don't know of anyone on the planet who thinks that was wrong."

He said, however, that there is "a large consensus that as a nation, we made a fundamental miscalculation of sending 300,000 troops to liberate Baghdad."

"We underestimated what the Republic guard would do," he said. "It created a foundation for insurgents."

Berrier told the students that the Iraqi people need to know the American government will continue to support them.

"Our problem as a society is we want things done instantaneously," he said. "We need to be prepared for the long haul to have military forces in Iraq. We need Americans support to win the peace."

Senior Pete Dickas, 17, of McCandless, said he thought forum emphasized "how complex the problem in Iraq is."

"Everything isn't black and white. I learned from it," Dickas said. "It was a good way to hear a variety of perspectives other than just what you hear from the media."