Tampabay: Area residents react to news with mixture of emotions

Iraq

Area residents react to news with mixture of emotions

The announcement that U.S. forces had attacked targets in Iraq affects people in a number of ways; some are confident, some are scared, many say it is necessary.

By THOMAS C. TOBIN, Times Staff Writer

Tampa Bay area residents reacted to the first bursts of war Wednesday night with a somber mix of confidence and dread about possible terrorist attacks.

And like many across the country, some had personal ties with the military force of 300,000 expected to push toward Baghdad.

"It's been a long time coming," said Mark Lipshaw, manager of Crackers Bar & Grill in Crystal River. "We didn't get the job done the first time. It's time to get it done."

Lipshaw, 31, of Inglis, said his nephew, Matthew Smith, 21, is in Army intelligence and called Wednesday morning.

"He said he's doing all right," Lipshaw said. "Can't really talk about what's going on and for me not to worry."

Carlos Cole, a cook at Bella's Restaurant in South Tampa, had just finished his shift and was sitting at the bar drinking a beer when his boss yelled that the country was at war.

"I'm really, really scared," said Cole, 33. "I think something could happen here, like more explosions, more suicide bombings."

At Crazy Buffet on N Dale Mabry Highway, Jennifer Pierce, a 23-year-old television account executive, had finished sushi and crab legs and was waiting for the bill when a TV near the table began blaring news of explosions over Baghdad.

Pierce said she feared for the troops abroad and Americans at home.

"I think it's scary just not knowing what's going to happen, the fact that they're talking about chemical warfare, there and here," she said.

For Dave McInnes, 41, of Palm Harbor, the first accounts of the war revived vivid memories.

"I was there in '91," said McInnes, who said he served in the 1st Infantry during the Gulf War. "I was sitting on the sand when the bombs started dropping." He said he supported the second President Bush's initiative in Iraq.

"We've got to go in there and take care of business."

But Michael Weaver, 35, of St. Petersburg, said the situation depressed him.

"We've got our own war right here," said Weaver, manager of the Lions Den II in St. Petersburg. "We've got enough going on in our own house."

About 50 people gathered to watch the news and President Bush's speech from the American Legion post in St. Pete Beach.

Bob Delaney, a Korean War veteran, said he worried about "all those young kids" sent to Iraq to fight.

"It makes me half sick to know we're going over there," he said. "But we're already over there now so I guess we're going to have to finish this."

These comments of others across the region echoed a Gallup poll conducted this week for CNN and USA Today, which said that one-third of the 66 percent of Americans who approved of President Bush's ultimatum to Saddam Hussein were unsure about the merits of war. They told pollsters they were simply following Bush's lead.

Also, 70 percent of those polled characterized themselves as "worried" about the conflict and 48 percent said they were "afraid." Just over half said they were "confident" in going to war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Luann Pascucci, 18, a political science student at the University of South Florida in Tampa, saw the beginning of the war on MSNBC.

"I'm divided," she said. "I do think Saddam should be removed, but it seems like George W. Bush is cleaning up after his dad because his father didn't finish what he started."

Edward Brown, 68, a homeless man in downtown St. Petersburg, was breaking down boxes for a liquor store, when he learned of the start of the war from the shop owner.

Brown said he served three years in Marines after high school. "I wish I was there," Brown said of the war. "When you get trained to defend this country, you want to be there."

On S Howard Avenue in Tampa, meanwhile, the patio at Starbucks cafe was crowded with coffee drinkers when the first accounts of war were broadcast.

Estibalitz Rodriguez was smoking a Marlboro and talking to a friend when her cell phone rang around 10 p.m. It was her mother, calling from their native Spain.

The Americans had attacked, she told her.

"Oh my god," Rodriguez said in Spanish.

"Besides shock, I'm a person who doesn't believe it's the right decision, even though the head of the state of my country is supporting the war," said Rodriguez, 28, who until recently had studied international relations at University of South Florida.

"I guess coming from a country that has been dealing with terrorism, I view it differently," Rodriguez said. "Do I feel we're vulnerable? The whole world is."

The attack, she said, made her ponder how haphazard it was that she was safe tonight, unlike those in Baghdad.

"Just because I was born European, my life is (deemed) more worthy," she said.

The inequity was striking, she said.

"Humankind is humankind."

-- Times staff writers Colleen Jenkins, Kathryn Wexler, Matthew Waite, Alex Leary, Anita Kumar, Leanora Minai and Carrie Johnson contributed to this report.