More Americans now say they believe the war against Iraq was notjustified than did a year ago, according to a recent NBC News, WallStreet Journal poll.
The number of Americans who think the U.S. should have takenmilitary action dropped from 76 percent in 2003 to 64 percent,according to the poll.
Like the 32 percent of Americans surveyed who now say the UnitedStates should not have taken military action to remove SaddamHussein, some University of Memphis students said they have changedtheir minds about whether the preemptive strike against Iraq wasjustified.
Jerry Gray, a freshman business major with a cousin stationed inIraq, initially supported the war.
"At first I thought (the war) was a good cause," Gray said. "ButI haven't seen (the government) accomplish anything yet."
While more than half of Americans polled said they think the warhas gone as expected, 35 percent think it has gone worse.
Myles Brewer said he doesn't think the war was necessary anddoesn't understand why the United States declared war on Iraq.
"It seems the government was going on false leads," Brewer said."I don't think they should have gone (to war)."
Although some students have changed their opinions, others saidthey disagreed with the Administration about going to war from thestart.
"I was against the war from the beginning because there wasnever any proof -- even now there is no proof," said PatriceWilson, freshman engineering major. "I don't see how Saddam Husseinties into al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden."
Wilson, like many Americans, said she agrees with formercounter-terrorism official, Richard A. Clarke that there was notenough credible evidence of weapons of mass destruction to invadeIraq.
In his book, "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War onTerror," Clarke said President Bush seemed preoccupied with formerIraqi leader Saddam Hussein. However, National Security AdviserCondoleezza Rice said on ABC's Good Morning America "the campaignsagainst al Qaeda and Iraq were two separate but equally importantfronts on the war against terrorism."