Las Vegans mixed on beginning of Iraqi war

Thursday, March 20, 2003 | 11:10 a.m.

As President Bush announced the start of the war on Iraq Wednesday night, Kathleen Fuson stopped playing video poker at a Henderson restaurant and covered her face with her hands.

A friend of hers in the Air Force Reserve is in the thick of military action in Iraq, Fuson said. He's been there for more than a year.

She said she has been worried "for one person and his family. Tonight I'm worried for everybody."

The reactions of Las Vegas residents and visitors alike were a mix of shock, pride and sorrow as Bush announced the military strike.

Sam Pirkins was hesitant this morning to talk about the war as he ate breakfast at Bagelmania and Deli on Twain Avenue.

"I don't know if I should comment," the Oklahoma-born Las Vegas resident of eight years said, noting that he lived in Iraq with relatives during the Persian Gulf War and he and his family suffered under the reign of Saddam Hussein before and after that conflict.

"I could say that Iraq is one of the countries over there that really needs help," he said before blurting, "Saddam Hussein is trash."

Pirkins said the situation for Iraqi citizens is not good.

"People who live in Iraq are so poor," Pirkins said. "There is a shortage of food and materials so you can't stock up on supplies. Now you imagine those conditions while under attack."

Stacy Fisher, a waitress at Bagelmania, said the war definitely was the subject of the day among the restaurant's early-morning patrons.

"Everybody is talking about it, and there are a lot of different opinions," the native Las Vegan said as she served bacon and scrambled eggs to a customer. "I felt we should have got the job done the last time we were over there."

Dennis Keller, a former Marine eating at The Greens in Henderson Wednesday night with his wife, Vicki, said he sees this war as a necessary evil.

"Look, I don't like war, nobody likes war," he said. "If you like a war, you're nuts.

"It's something you have to do, it's like in school when you have a bully you have to take him out back. We all hate war, but sometimes you have to kick some butt and if you don't kick this one ..."

Keller, who investigates real estate records for title companies and says he is not related to former Sheriff Jerry Keller, unabashedly supports President Bush.

"I'm so glad we have George Bush as president of the United States right now," he said.

Greens' patron Brian Eldridge said he is a conservative businessman who does not support the U.S. war in Iraq.

"I don't care if you are left or right (politically), it's being done for business," he said. "It's a sad joke. It's scary as hell."

Local hotels and casinos bustled with visitors on business and pleasure. Those at slot machines and table games seemed oblivious to the president's announcement.

While having a drink at the Bellagio's sports book bar, Pete Schiefer and Ron Byrnes of Long Island, N.Y., said the war would not force them change their week-long stay in Las Vegas.

The two men arrived Wednesday with a group of friends to spend some time here during the NCAA basketball tournament. They've been making this trek the past five years.

"Nobody's going to dictate to me how I'm going to live my life," said Schiefer, an Air Force veteran who served in the Gulf War. "If people let Saddam Hussein and the terrorists affect their lives, they win.

"I have faith in my military and my president."

As they checked into the Bellagio Wednesday, Earle and Joyce Timmons of Salem, N.H., said they were looking forward to their five-day getaway.

"If you have to be somewhere during a war, you might as well be here," Joyce Timmons said.

Jack Crow of Hemet, Calif., and Don Yocum of Phoenix had just arrived at the San Remo for a business training seminar.

They were glued to a row of television sets displaying sports events.

ESPN displayed a headline: "Sports and War."

"I spent a few minutes with CNN in the room and then said, 'I need a drink,' " Crow said.

"It's kind of unfortunate something like this has to be done. I think more diplomatic talks might have worked, but the final straw was we had to give (Saddam Hussein) an ultimatum."

Neither man said he was worried about the possibility of terrorist attacks in Las Vegas.

Yocum said he comes to Las Vegas often on business and supports U.S. military actions in Iraq, but had hoped for action on a smaller scale.

"I think we need to do it," Yocum said, suggesting a commando-style raid directed at Hussein. "Maybe between us and the Israelis or get Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan, Steven Segal."

Before the start of Wednesday night's NIT game between UNLV and Hawaii at the Thomas & Mack Center, arena public address announcer Dick Calvert noted the beginning of the war in Iraq.

In introducing national anthem singer Blynnda Bascones, a 19-year-old sophomore midfielder for UNLV's women's soccer team, Calvert said, "Please rise and pay respects to our U.S. troops who are in the Middle East."

Bascones, wearing a sleeveless top designed like an American flag with a red turtleneck, sang a stirring rendition of the anthem.

Bascones admitted that the circumstances warranted more pride in her performance.

"Of course, how could it not?" she said. "I mean, it's the national anthem."

Having breakfast at Bagelmania this morning, Las Vegas resident Melissa Gordon said this morning she felt a sense of "relief that we have now got on with it.

"We weren't going to change the minds of the French and others. I think that it is going to be interesting what we find over there."

She was referring not only to potential weapons of mass destruction but also whether the French may have provided Hussein materials, especially during a period when Iraq was under economic sanctions.

It has been theorized that France's opposition to sanctioning a war through the United Nations was influenced by its strong trade ties with Hussein.

"It's like an onion," Gordon said. "We will be revealing layers."