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Some locals give Clinton benefit of doubt; others don't By JULIE SWENSEN and PETER WONG Korean War veteran Dale Morgan, 66, watched television reports of the airstrikes on Iraq on Wednesday with fellow veterans at the VFW in Medford. "It seems kind of obvious to me they can't seem to get any acceptable response from (Saddam) Hussein. What other alternative do they have?" said Morgan, who sat at the bar counter, drinking out of a mug that read "America is #1 thanks to our veterans." "I think it's entirely necessary," Morgan said of the airstrikes. Some local residents polled Wednesday sided with Morgan, saying the attack was necessary. Others thought the strike was a way to detract from the impeachment vote that had been scheduled for today. At Superior Athletic Club in Medford, where a TV was tuned to CNN's news of the bombing, Medford resident Diana Truelove, 42, talked of the timing of the airstrike. "I just think it's a typical Clinton thing. They're thinking about impeaching him, so he's making all the right moves," she said. "Everything he does seems to be quite the little coincidence." But John Walton of Medford didn't think the two events were connected. "This was planned ahead of time. It just happened to fall this way," said Walton, who served in Vietnam and Korea. "It should have been done a long time ago," Walton said. Americans shouldn't have backed away before -- "it had to come to a head this time," said Walton, who talked of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. "This is all done for the good of the United States, not for the political purposes," he said. Over at Abby's Pizza in Medford, employee Joyce Hogan, 48, said, "We've made idle threats and we never carried anything out. Maybe it's time we did something." But others protested Wednesday's decision to take military action. At the Plaza in Ashland, more than three dozen people gathered at a candlelight vigil. "I had no idea that a potential bombing was in the works," said Ruth Coulthard, executive director of the Peace House, which organized the vigil on short notice. "So it's amazing that people reacted so quickly and strongly to what they heard." Coulthard said people should not sit still if they oppose U.S. military action. "A lot of people seem to think it's unpatriotic to do anything but keep your mouth shut and support military action," she said. "But I think it's really unpatriotic not to demand a public debate about anything done in our name and with our dollars." Coulthard said she believes diplomacy should have been given more of a chance, as it was last month when Saddam gave in and said he accepted open inspections. The bombing followed repeated failure to keep that promise. Standing with the aid of crutches on a cold and foggy night, Robert Jones of Ashland spoke his mind. "It's no coincidence that Slick Willie is responding by bombing and killing innocent people in Iraq," he said. "Willie should be impeached for that, but not for what Congress is considering; most Americans don't care about that. I see this as a cynical attempt to get some heat off him." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA