When Communication senior Jason Kessler witnessed rallies and protests three weeks ago — some of which were sponsored by Northwestern student group NOWAR — against the war in Iraq, he decided to form a group with one resolute response: “Yes war!”
Kessler, who said he was upset at the lack of balance in discussions on campus about the war, started Young Entrepreneurs Supporting War And Reflation, a group of students who favor the war for economic reasons.
But many NOWAR members said they had not heard of YESWAR and are skeptical it exists.
“It’s hard for me to imagine that this group exists and has not approached us to talk, because we have been doing debates (against other pro-war campus groups) all quarter,” said Naureen Shah, who is a member of NOWAR.
Kessler, however, maintained his group is legitimate.
“What I’ve realized is that there is a lot of hidden sentiment for the war, especially for economic reasons,” Kessler said. “There is almost an entirely new sector of the economy created during the war. My aims are logical and straightforward.”
Kessler cited the defense and telecommunications industries as groups that have benefited financially from the war.
Many other student groups said they are concerned about YESWAR’s purely economic focus for supporting the war because it does not consider other humanitarian reasons for a U.S. presence in Iraq.
“What they are saying sounds kind of rash,” said Lindsey Bahr, a Medill sophomore who serves as publicity chairwoman for College Republicans. “Even the most conservative Republicans I know argue more reasons for the war than just economic ones.”
But the war could give the United States access to new resources, such as oil, and help to build America’s domestic sector, said David Baltmanis, a Weinberg senior and YESWAR member.
“It is a step towards globalization, and in some instances it is necessary to use force to make that step,” he said.
Kessler said YESWAR has about 25 members, but he ambitiously hopes to recruit 500 new members before the summer.
“I’m hoping to facilitate discussion about the war and its wonderful benefits for the U.S. by planning events, rallies and pro-war speakers,” he said.
NOWAR’s Shah, a Medill senior, refuted Kessler’s argument that the war in Iraq is in any way beneficial to the U.S. economy.
“We are spending $87 billion trying to reconstruct another country, and we are failing miserably,” Shah said.
She added, “We would be completely open to debating them on this issue.”
Kessler said he contacted NOWAR about creating the club, but has not yet heard back.
“They have not responded to me,” he said. “It might be out of cowardice.”
He added that he chooses not to get involved in political debates about the merits of the war.
“Our goal as an economic group makes politics irrelevant to our cause,” he said.
Kyle Schafer, another NOWAR member, said he doesn’t understand how YESWAR could ignore the ramifications of the war unrelated to the conflict’s economic impact.
“It’s entirely necessary for us to consider the humanitarian effect that our greed has,” said Schafer, a McCormick sophomore. “It’s not right for us to kill people to stage wars for economic benefit.”
McCormick senior Jeffrey Schell, a former fraternity member of Kessler’s, said a YESWAR member approached him about joining the group, but he declined.
“It seems to me that Jason Kessler is an immoral fool trying to create a faux club that backhandedly makes light of a situation in which hundreds of people are dying,” he said.
