On the flag-lined streets of Boone, where nearly everyone has a friend or relative who served in the National Guard in Iraq, a sense of pride in the military now mingles with growing doubt and uncertainty about the war.
Residents of this central Iowa town of 13,000, home to four Iowa National Guard units and hundreds of soldiers who have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, say they feel a deepening pessimism about the prospects for peace, the timetable for withdrawal of US troops and the success of the broader campaign against terrorism.
"I would love to see all the troops come home and everything be fine, but it isn't going to happen. I don't see a solution," said JoAnn Franksain, whose two daughters serve in the Guard, one in Kosovo, and whose husband is a 35-year Guard veteran who served one tour in Afghanistan.
While many are quick to pledge their support for the war, and few want a fast military pullout from Iraq, a series of interviews found plenty of questions about the US mission there and little hope US troops - including Guard units based in Boone - would get a break from war any time soon.
"The war just keeps dragging on, it's a no-win situation," said Bob Owens, a Department of Agriculture worker from neighbouring Luther. "What have we proved? Maybe nothing. What makes us safer? Who knows?"
Craig Heineman, a local farmer, said he voted for President George W. Bush in the last two elections but was no longer sure the president made the right move in invading Iraq.
"I don't think we can just leave now, but the trouble is I think we're going to be there a long time," he said. "I supported the war on terrorism, but I'm not sure Iraq was the place to go."
Since the September 11, 2001, attacks about 7,600 soldiers and airmen from the Iowa National Guard have been deployed overseas, a state Guard spokesman said. Most have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.
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