Congressional testimony last week from two of the United States' top officials in Iraq has already brought about changes to the military's plans for withdrawal. But for some former troops and current enlistees enrolled at UF, the latest decisions have not changed their feelings - positive or negative - about the war.
U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the head commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker recommended last week that troop withdrawals from the area be postponed, with no projected exit date in sight.
Military reinforcements from last year's "surge" will still leave this summer as planned, but about 140,000 other troops serving in Iraq will stay put until the fall.
"Withdrawing too many forces too quickly could jeopardize the progress of the past year," Petraeus said, after testifying that progress in Iraq over the last five years, while significant, is still "fragile and reversible."
Chris Gordon, a 22-year-old UF political science senior and four-year soldier with the Marine Corps Reserve, agreed.
"It's almost common sense - you want to make changes, it's going to take time," said Gordon, who is still enlisted with the Marines. "We need to get the job done right, however that may be."
Though Gordon has yet to see combat and is not slated to in the future, the idea of deployment remains very real for him - his unit is preparing for its sixth trip to Iraq.
"I don't think defeat is a guaranteed end to this. I don't think we're just delaying admitting that we lost the war," he said. "I don't know the right way to do it, but I know leaving isn't it."
Not all Marines, however, support Petraeus' suggestions and the Bush administration's war plan.
Ramon Lopez, a 30-year-old UF aerospace engineering junior, is a former infantryman with the Marines. Though he was never deployed, Lopez said last week's update offered no new progress.
"We're pretty much in the same place as we were six months ago," Lopez said. "The units we have over there, they can secure some areas. But the overall goal, the overall strategy, can't be accomplished militarily. Period."
Thomas McGilvray, a 25-year-old UF aerospace engineering junior who trained with the Air Force for almost four years, echoed Lopez's doubts about the war's future.
McGilvray said that although he once believed the military presence in Iraq was necessary, he now thinks the military should "take the training wheels off" of Iraq and allow the country to run itself independently.
"I believe that we should have an idea of when we're getting out," McGilvray said. "They keep telling us, 'We're making progress' - but that doesn't tell us anything."
