The Bush administration's "zero tolerance" stance in the disarmament of Saddam Hussein sat well Monday with area veterans who support the president's get-him-before-he-gets-us mentality.
Veterans interviewed at Veterans Day services at Civic Memorial Auditorium and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fargo said they support military action if Saddam Hussein won't allow weapons inspectors in Iraq and eliminate his weapons of mass destruction.
"I guess I would support it. After 9/11, something's got to happen," said Dave Alberg of Roseau, Minn., a Marines veteran who entered service as the Vietnam War ended. "Nobody wants to go to war, but you can't just let it go, either."
A Pentagon plan for invading Iraq calls for a land, sea and air force of 200,000 to 250,000 troops, according to The Associated Press.
"No one likes to see that happen," said Wayne Ellefson, 48, of Fargo.
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"But I guess in this country we don't want to see another 9/11."
An Army veteran, Ellefson served in an armored cavalry unit during the Cold War, guarding the border between East Germany and West Germany.
He witnessed acts of terrorism, and said he doesn't want to see the United States subjected to regular car bombings and other terrorism that plagues the Middle East.
Wallace Buckingham, 73, of Fargo sits on the national executive committee of American Veterans. He said he's not in favor of war at any time, but the disarmament of Saddam is "a battle that has to be fought."
Harris E. Peterson, chairman of the United Patriotic Bodies of Fargo, advocated skipping the weapons inspections and moving directly to invasion.
"If you have a rattlesnake in your bedroom, are you going to pet him on the head and be nice to him?" said Peterson, 77, of Fargo, a World War II veteran who fought at Iwo Jima.
A few veterans suggested if President Bush were to oust Saddam, it could make up for his father's failure to do so at the end of Persian Gulf War.
"I think what they should have done when Saddam Hussein surrendered, we should have finished the job," said John Gunderson, 78, a patient at the Fargo VA and a World War II Army veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
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"I think they ought to go in and wipe him out," said Leo E. Albus of Fargo. The 72-year-old spent 20 years in the Navy after joining in 1948.
Clint Sather of Moorhead, who turns 82 today, manned a gun turret for five bombing missions during World War II before his B-17 was shot down over Germany. He spent 13 months in a German prison camp.
His wife, Eleanor, said at first she didn't believe the United States should be involved in disarming Iraq.
"My daughter said, 'Mom, none of us like it, but if we don't so something, we'll be out in the cold,'" she said.
"Maybe we should fire the first shot, for once," Clint said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528
