A high school teacher and the director of a major government think-tank squared off Monday in a debate at the City Club of Eugene’s monthly meeting. And while the two supported President George W. Bush, they butted heads on whether the United States should wage war in Iraq.
Joseph Cirincione, senior associate and director of the Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., debated with Churchill High School social studies teacher Mike Sterling about the increasing likelihood of war in Iraq and its consequences.
The majority of the roughly 80 City Club members and guests came to hear Cirincione, a specialist in weapons inspections in Iraq and a frequent media commentator on arms non-proliferation. Political science Professor Jane Cramer, who is also a member of Concerned Faculty for Peace and Justice, said she brought Cirincione to Eugene because of his knowledge of the efficacy of weapons inspections.
The presentation was in question-and-answer format, and Sterling opened the event by quizzing Cirincione. He based most of his questions on Cirincione’s recently published report, “Iraq: What’s Next.”
Sterling explained that while he is not pro-war, the consequences of not acting forcefully in Iraq could be devastating. According to Cirincione’s report, China, Syria and other countries are sending jet airplane parts to Iraq that could later be used against the United States.
“Are sanctions even working now?” Sterling asked. “Our hands are going to be tied in the desert while we play cat-and-mouse games.”

Cirincione disagreed and said inspections are effective in deterring Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but he added troops — and the threat of force — are necessary.
“I contend (that) the inspections work,” he said. “It’s not a question of acting forcefully — we are acting forcefully.”
The director, who had the majority of speaking time, said that when people see the thousands of Iraqi civilian casualties, other terrorists around the world will want to destroy anything American — be it U.S. civilians, troops or a McDonald’s in Iran. He added that war is also terrible because of its cost, which includes the lives, money, destruction and time U.S. forces will spend in the Middle East to uphold the region’s new democracy after the war is over.
“This is a dangerous fantasy,” he said, adding the United States will be put in a colonial position. “We have never done anything like this.”
Sterling argued that he does not believe Hussein will voluntarily disarm.
“I have a fear of assuming a leader like Saddam Hussein can think rationally like we do,” he said.
Cirincione disagreed.
“Containment works,” he said. “Saddam is contained. We have him in an iron box.”