Conflict hits home for international students
Students worry about families; war opinions differ
By Jacque Nguyen
Staff Reporter

In the midst of controversy surrounding the recent U.S. strikes in Iraq, international students are in the position to provide unique perspectives on the war between the two nations.

Moe Sayyed, a senior speech communication and English major who was born in Alexandria, Egypt, said he agrees with the decision the United States has made to attack Saddam Hussein’s forces.

“The (U.S.) troops are fighting for the cause of liberating a group of people,” Sayyed said. “They are removing a threat to world peace.”

Sayyed said he and his parents have been trying to keep in touch with his family members through phone calls, but their attempts have failed because of busy lines or failed connections. He said most of their correspondence is now through e-mail.

However, freshman engineering major Priya Chandy said she is against the war and that her main concerns are the potential difficulties created by the war in traveling back to the United Arab Emirates, where her family lives. In spite of this, Chandy is not too worried about the safety of her family.

“My family is not in much danger and there have been no direct effects toward them by the war,” Chandy said.

Tahira Hussain, a senior political science major, said she is against the war because her main concern is her family in Saudi Arabia.

“No one knows what’s going to happen and I can’t say what’s going to happen,” Hussain said.

Niha Eapen, a sophomore fashion merchandising major from India, said that in an ideal world, war is not the answer, but that this war will be proven effective if President George W. Bush keeps his promise to restore peace to the Middle East.

“It’s about time somebody did something,” Eapen said. “It’s action that matters, not talk.”

Claudia Angenendt, an MBA student from Germany, said she agrees that someone had to fight against Hussein and disagrees with the German government’s stance on the war.

“I partly blame Chancellor (Gerhard) Schroeder for the fact that war became necessary,” Angenendt said. “Experts say if the German government had stated earlier that they support the U.S. threat against Iraq, Saddam Hussein might have felt pressured enough to give up and a war might’ve been avoidable.”

But Angenendt did say she is worried about Bush’s foreign policy.

“The (United States) is clearly a world power and I appreciate Bush’s effort to keep peace in the world, but sometimes I am a little afraid that he tries to mess with too many affairs at once,” she said.

Deepa Kalpathy-Narayanan, an MBA student from India, said she is just glad action is being taken.

“Sept. 11 meant more injury to a bleeding economy,” Kalpathy-Narayanan said. “It appears as if the (United States) has come to a standstill with no decisions — economic, social, political or business — being made.”

j.f.nguyen@tcu.edu