Members of the Army National Guard and Air Force ROTC met with a room full of Penn State black community members last night to discuss the ongoing war in Iraq.

Held by Phi Beta Sigma and the Caribbean Student Association, the event drew more than 50 students to the Pollock Cultural Lounge.

Ife Onatunde (junior-college of science), an Army National Guard specialist served in Iraq for a year, said he didn't support the war before he was sent over, but that the United States shouldn't leave Iraq.

"We have to stay in the country because we messed up the country," he said.

Audience member Wondor Korto (senior-international politics) said the American public was misled in order to justify going to war.

"It should be known that there was no connection between Iraq and Bin Laden," she said.

Panelist Kirin Kennedy (sophomore-meteorology), a member of the Air Force Air Force ROTC said that Iraq did fall in line with the broader war on terrorism. "Iraq is a matter of national security," she said.

Michael Collazo (senior-marketing) said he questions the reactions he gets from members of the military when they talk about the war.

"A lot of times when I ask soldiers questions I feel like they've been robot-ized," he said.

Onatunde disagreed, saying that soldiers are allowed to have their own opinions.

"The army never gets into politics," he said.

From time to time throughout the evening the room would erupt into argument as audience members brought up controversial viewpoints.

Kamaria Dudley (senior-animal science) said she came to the debate firmly against the war, but that the panelists made her change her viewpoint.

"It really opened my mind," she said. "Leaving tonight, I'm more in the middle."