As the war in Iraq enters its fourth year, students and Wilmington residents have different opinions on its direction and morality.

Lily Patterson, a UNCW freshman, said her feelings on the war have changed throughout its duration.

“I was unsure when the war first started because I wasn’t really informed about it, but as I’ve gotten older and been able to vote, I’ve tried to educate myself.”

Patterson said she is now against the war. “I think it’s time for our president to think of a way to get out of the war,” she said.

Patterson isn’t alone. Steve Lee, the organizer of Wilmington Peace Meet-up, said he thought the war was a mistake from the beginning and that it was lost before it ever began. Lee called the war “immoral and illegal.”

He put his feelings into action organizing, along with Wilmington Peace Meet-up, a weekly protest on the corner of Oleander Drive and S. College Road.

Lee described Wilmington Peace Meet-up as a group that is opposed to war in general, not just Iraq.

Lee said the U.S. needs to begin withdrawing troops right away.

“While withdrawing [the U.S. should] use every bit of our resources to encourage surrounding Arab nations to take a more active role in brokering arrangements between the various groups biding for power in Iraq, including a peace-keeping presence if necessary,” he said.

While the war wages on, Lee said it’s up to the people to work towards its end.

“Many people that I meet feel two things: The situation is hopeless and that there is nothing they can do. My response to that is hope is not really necessary, action is. Secondly, there is plenty that people can do-even for the most timid of persons there is something that can be done to put an end to this war,” Lee said.

Although polls show that the majority of U.S. citizens are now opposed to the war, some feel that the military should stay the course in Iraq.

UNCW senior Vinnie Conti spent four years in the Marines and said serving in the military changed his perspective on war.

“I think it’s silly for people to think that we should remove our troops and move them to other countries because a lot of terrorists are already in Iraq,” he said.

Conti also said the U.S. military wouldn’t be able to win in Iraq if they were under heavy restrictions.

Brian Burkhardt, a UNCW junior, is considering going into the Navy, and the war is weighing on his decision. He said he hears different things about the war and doesn’t always feel sure about the United States’ role in Iraq.

“It does seem rather unproductive, but I feel like what we see in the media is only bits and pieces of what’s really happening. I hear that a lot of it is so that politicians can have power over [Iraq’s] oil. I’ve been considering going into the Navy, and I would feel like they were taking my life for granted. If I did join the military, I’d like to feel like I was helping the civilians over there, which I think we definitely think we are.”

Burkhardt, unlike Lee, thinks that immediately withdrawing the troops would be a bad idea.

“We do need to gradually withdraw, but I don’t think it should be a compulsive action,” Burkhardt said.

He also said America should accomplish what it set out to accomplish before pulling out of the area.

Sophomore Melissa Prasnikar said her faith plays an important part in her feelings about the war. She said the late Pope John Paul II’s disapproval of the war from its start influenced her.

“My faith is strongly centered on Jesus’ non-violence teachings. The war in Iraq has claimed many innocent lives for reasons that are vague, unknown and suspicious. As a Catholic, giving my support to the war wouldn’t be consistent with my faith,” she said.