Participants say Memorial dedication will focus on WWII, not Iraq

WASHINGTON - The granite is decorated with sharp stars and wingspread eagles and its pillars stand straight as an Army colonel's back. The World War II Memorial is, like the war it recalls, straightforward.

The veterans who gather here this weekend for its dedication want the event to be just as unambiguous. After waiting decades for their commemoration, they want it to be about their war, the one that history defined as just and public opinion overwhelmingly supported.

But by a coincidence of timing, the memorial's official opening ceremony is becoming part of the current political debate. Even without mention of the Iraq war, this weekend's show of military might, speech making and themes of patriotism and sacrifice will offer more than a historical tribute. It will also become, intentionally and not, a platform from which to view today's far murkier war.

"With the juxtaposition it seems inevitable," said Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, a University of Maryland-affiliated group where research has found the public roughly divided in half by their feelings about the legitimacy of the war in Iraq.

For supporters, the new memorial and its elaborate dedication will speak directly to the resolve needed in Iraq now. For detractors, it will provide a stark contrast between what they see as a legitimate and an illegitimate war, Kull said.

The memorial is a tribute to the 16 million Americans who served in the armed forces during the war and the more than 400,000 of them who died. The back wall of the memorial holds 400 stars, each one to mark 1,000 deaths. "Here we mark the price of freedom," it says.

Given the timing, however, certain other memorial details seem as if designed to speak directly to Iraq. Near the entrance, the base of a flagpole holds an etched statement "Americans Came to Liberate, not to conquer, to restore freedom and to end tyranny." On the Northern wall attributed to Gen. George Marshall: "We are determined that before the sun sets on this terrible struggle our flag will be recognized throughout the world as a symbol of freedom on the one hand and of overwhelming force on the other."

The timing was pure accident. President Clinton authorized the memorial's establishment in 1993 and dedicated the site two years later. Debate about the site dragged out the process so construction did not begin until 2001. Still, that was years from the Iraq war.

Former Sen. Bob Dole, a WWII vet wounded in Italy who led the fund-raising effort for the memorial is adamant that the ceremony will not veer off course this weekend. "World War II, that's all we're going to talk about it," he said.

Not that Dole is apolitical. Earlier this month, the former presidential candidate campaigned in Florida for President Bush. Surrounded by veterans, he said, "Over the last three years, President Bush has led America with strength and steady resolve."

But he said that this weekend's events should not be construed as a political statement and when he speaks at the ceremony, he will not draw parallels. "We're not trying to relate this to Iraq or to Afghanistan or Vietnam or anything else."

Beyond the ceremony organizers, however, the rules of engagement are different. Commentary is already pouring out. "It is also a powerful symbol to our fellow citizens and those who wear the uniform today that we are too engaged with a resolute adversary and a world facing global terrorism, a war we must win to protect our homeland and our way of life," wrote Air Force Maj. Jeff Decker about the ceremony timing in a widely reproduced column for an Air Force publication.

On the other side, two groups protesting the war, Veterans for Common Sense and Education for Peace in Iraq Center, or EPIC, are using the ceremony to try to galvanize support. They are collecting signatures to urge President Bush to use his speech to "rededicate" America to the international laws that came about after World War II. "This is about honoring what America stands for, it's very much about honoring the sacrifices the World War II veterans made," said Erik Gustafson, executive director of EPIC.

Others see the memorial ceremony timing as important in today's political context more ambiguously. At a press conference in Washington Thursday, Memorial designer Friedrich St.Florian said he was well aware that this memorial would offer a comment on current attitudes toward war. He said because of that he tried to design a piece that did not glorify World War II. "There is out there a phrase that this is a good war," he said. "There is no such thing as a good war."