At an invitational assembly set up by Mr. John Collier in the Auditorium, students heard both sides of a debate on the War in Iraq at a panel discussion on Thursday, May 29.

Saving lives is one of the main reasons why Mr. Collier has had panel discussions about the Iraqi War for three years. Mr. Collier feels that having these panel discussions helps students hear both sides of the issue and believes that it is important for them to understand the struggles and politics that go into this 21st century war. The reason why he believes that these debates are important is because it helps saves the lives of students. This is because there are many army recruiters urging young students to enlist in the military. The number one reason students enlist in the military is because they are not financially stable enough to pay for their education. This panel helps raise awareness for students to make the right decision by not enlisting and staying in school instead and finding other ways to pay for their education.

According to Mr. Collier, for every one American, 60 Iraqis die. Mr. Collier enjoys holding these debates every year because he feels that it is important that students talk about the issues with each other, outside of school, and for teachers to discuss the issues with their students during class.

Every year the Iraqi panel changes, but sometimes the same guests come back to share their stories and the beliefs they have on the war and how it has affected them. This year, the panel on the left side had five guests who were veterans and are still fighting in the war for the cause they believe in. The guests on the left panel included Christopher Ahn from the Veterans for Freedom organization, Brian Bowers, Ellen Sims, and Tim Hutchinson of the Republican Party. On the right side of the panel opposing the war were retired Colonel M. Right who is President George Bush’s Department Ambassador of Mongolia. Edgar Cuevas, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Jahar Rashid, a Palestinian Iraqi, Marcela Guzman a returning guest for the third time, and Nadia Maccaffrey the founder of Veterans Village which helps soldiers come back from the war.

Before the movies, discussions and comments began. Students were asked if they were going to join the army after high school and less students raised their hand than last year. The estimated amount of students who raised their hand this year was approximately 20 compared to more than 50 students last year.

The discussion panels and the debate of the Iraqi War has changed throughout the three year period since the first time Mr. Collier had guests from an organization called Veterans for Peace. What really made a difference and helped the debate was having Jahar Rashid come and tell his side of the story including what it was like to have Americans in Iraq and how it had affected him and his parents who live there. Marcella Guzman, the returning member of the panel from the past two years, raises awareness that she was a rape victim. She tried to commit suicide because the Veteran Help Center refused to give her aid leaving her to cope with what she had experienced. Nadia Maccaffrey, the mother of Frederick Maccaffrey, who served in the war and lost his life, spoke of how the government tried to cover up how her son had died. He was shot by three men while trying to establish a new Iraqi army. She had actually traveled to the Middle East where her son had passed away.

Mr. Ahn showed the audience a video of Arlington West a video already viewed last year. About 80% of the footage from the film was old and 20% of it was new. The video discussed people who were against and for the war. Many opposed it because they knew people or had members of their family who had committed suicide or risked their lives saving others. Other people opposing the war were veterans who discussed the horrors of what they had seen and experienced while in Iraq. After the video, Mr. Ahn showed the audience many graphs of how the troops were making progress while they were in Iraq. Graphs were shown with statistics of the death rates in the American Army, Al Qaeda sightings , and violence decreasing.

Some students told of how the Iraqi debate and panels were very unorganized because some students came up to the microphone and asked questions that the members of the panel on the left could not or were not allowed to answer. Some students, on the other hand, asked very productive questions about the war that they were curious about.

The best part of the debate and what really opened the audiences perspective on the war was when Mr. Ahn told the audience of how his friend, who is serving in the war, does not wake up to gunfire or bombs going off early, but to the smell of eggs frying every morning. He told the audience that there were pictures of Iraqi civilians who were happy with the way their life was going with all the changes that the Americans had made while they were there. Mr. Rashid, on the other hand, had a different story to tell. He told the audience that the pictures and the story about waking up every morning to fried eggs was untrue. According to him, nine out of every ten Iraqis want the Americans out of Iraq.

The panel discussions and debates got heated after a while. The panelists for the war would tell the other side that they were practically wrong. They commented that they did not know what they were talking about and questioned the information they were receiving.

Most students went for the left side who were opposed to the war because they had put up a better fight and told of their experiences and the actual horrors they had seen and encountered. The students applauded the most for the left panel and cheered them on.