Poll finds most Princeton students support Iraq war

Princeton has long been known as the most conservative of the Ivy League schools, and prevailing Princeton student opinion on the war in Iraq supports the claim. University students, on the whole, support the war in Iraq, a Daily Princetonian poll found this week.

The telephone poll asked 135 undergraduates to what degree they supported or opposed the war in Iraq and for what reasons. (For poll details, see Page 3.)

Sixty percent of Princeton students support the war to some degree, and four percent were undecided. Of those supporting the war, roughly half said they "strongly support" it and the other half "somewhat support" it.

Students had different reasons for supporting the war, as well as varying degrees of conviction.

Dave Marcovitz '06, who described himself as strongly in support of the war, explained in an email, "I see this as a war of ideology as much as anything else." He also expressed his hope that "the establishment of a successful democracy in Iraq will occur, and it will serve as a model for democracy in the Arab world."

Sam Choi '04, who was also strongly in support, cited the claims that "Iraq is in possession of chemical and biological weapons" and that "Saddam Hussein is harboring terrorist elements" as reasons for his stance.

"We have to be proactive," Choi said.

Thirty-six percent of students maintained that they were against the war. Of these students, 16 percent believed that the United States has no justification for war without an immediate threat from Iraq.

The United Nations and weapons inspectors should have been given more time, 15 percent of students said. Another nine percent cited the lack of sufficient evidence against Iraq.

And four percent of students believe there is never justification for war.

One student, who asked not to be identified, said that she was "somewhat to strongly against the war."

"The idea of using force against a nation that we fear has weapons that are able to destroy the world doesn't make sense to me," she explained, calling America's actions "unwise."

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"I hope there are things we don't know that are intelligence and that justify it, and that there are people in charge of making decisions that are more intelligent than our president," she added.

Erica Jones '06 also said that she was against the war, though not strongly.

"I think that they could have found another way to deal with the situation," she said. "I mean, [North] Korea has weapons, too, and I don't see us invading them."

Jones said she didn't think she had enough background information on the war to form a stronger opinion. However, she also voiced concern that the United States had "other motives" for invading Iraq than the elimination of deadly weapons and terrorism.

"I don't think we have the authority to just go in there and destroy Iraq," said Jones.

Princeton students were significantly more in favor of the war than students on the Harvard University or Columbia University campuses.

A Mar. 28 poll by Columbia's student newspaper, The Spectator found only 47 percent of students supported the war, while a slight majority of 53 percent were against it.

The Harvard Crimson's poll on Mar. 21 found an even lower share of students — just 35 percent — supported the war, while 56 percent opposed it.

Asked by The Spectator whether Saddam Hussein is a threat to the people of his country, one Columbia student responded, "Yes, in that he's murdered a number of people. But how many people did Bush kill on death row in Texas?"

Despite the pro-war majority of Princeton students, numbers on campus were still lower than the national totals. According to a Mar. 24 Gallup poll, 72 percent of Americans support the war, while only 25 percent oppose it.

Bush's approval ratings have also risen 13 points from last weekend, to 71 percent.

Still, the question of this war's legitimacy remains for some Americans, both on and off campus. Four percent of Princeton students did not express an opinion about the war, while four percent of people nationwide have not been following the news about the war, the Gallup Poll reported.

"I just don't feel that I know enough about the war to really decide," Tina Mitra '06 said.