War in Iraq has prompted a surge in support for military action as people rally behind 'our boys', say the latest polls. But is it true? STEPHEN LEWIS and Chris Titley sought the views of local people

The Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Dr David Hope

"I took the view before the war started that we needed to work with the international community and that a second resolution was needed if we were to embark on this course.

But to some extent we are where we are now. There may well be people who feel war should not have been started and who still hold that view, but feel we must properly support our armed forces.

Uppermost in my mind are the members of our armed forces and their families, and the families of the Iraqi people who are suffering.

We can only pray for as swift and humane an end to the war as possible.

There is still a long and arduous journey to travel, not just in terms of the war but in terms of the negotiations and diplomacy needed to effect the right resolution.

There must be humanitarian aid and rebuilding of the country. We must also address the other questions in the Middle East such as the Israeli/ Palestine situation which lies at the heart of a good deal of all this.

War breeds hatred and suspicion and will obviously harden attitudes, which makes it much more difficult."

Donna Hay, 42, mother and romantic novelist

"I was against the war before, and I still am. There was no legal justification for it.

The Americans say they were doing it for humanitarian reasons but there have been an awful lot of atrocities in other countries. Why haven't they stepped in there? I think it is a Bush family feud, finishing what his father started.

Once something like this starts people tend to get behind 'our boys'. When you see British soldiers being attacked you tend to be sympathetic.

I have every sympathy for the servicemen and their families, but I don't think they should have been sent out there to risk their lives."

Joan Merryweather, 81-year-old York pensioners' champion

"I was only 18 when I joined up as a nurse in the war against Hitler. Now I am sitting in my armchair thinking to myself, 'what can I do?'. I can't do anything really.

Saddam's been a dictator like Hitler. He seems to have the same way with the Iraq people as Hitler had with his people.

I am not really in favour of military action, and I hoped they could do something to stop having a war; when things went on I realised they couldn't."

Pamela Egan, 58, mother, grandmother and Evening Press letter writer

"Maybe I have gone the other way. I'm not in favour of any war but possibly to begin with I felt a job had to be done.

But as it goes on and things seem to be going wrong you start to wonder if it was the right thing. The Americans were nave to think it would all be easy. The Iraqis are fighting for their country and technology is no good against street fighting.

I feel for our soldiers. Sometimes when you listen to news from a battle you think this is all wrong.

If it all went really well and they got home and the situation was sorted out, it would be wonderful. But at the moment it is not too bright."

Alan Maynard, professor of health economics at York University

"Saddam is a very evil Stalinist dictator, but I don't support war because I don't think that's a solution. It may well produce more problems and more terrorism than it will cure.

What the Americans hoped for was a quick, technically driven victory, but instead we may be entering a quagmire that will damage not only national interests but also international relationships.

I just hope that the bloodshed is minimal and the British troops are out of there as soon as possible. I fear that there may well be guerrilla warfare and a Northern Ireland situation on a large scale."

Jayne Dwyer, 34-year-old York mother

"I'm not educated enough about the problems there were in Iraq before, but I'm really against the war. Now it is happening, I want to support our people out there, but I still don't know that we were justified in going in and I worry about how it will escalate. It terrifies me.

I also think about the future and our children. I am terrified this is going to create more hostility against the US and Britain, and possibly more terrorist actions.

I can't bear to watch it on TV. I think we're seeing far too much. I would prefer to watch Corrie, so I can pretend it's not happening."

Jackie Teal, 38, runs the Linton greyhound racing kennels in Norton

"Obviously, I am behind the troops, but I honestly don't understand why we have had to go to war.

I was probably more pro a few days ago than now, when our troops are getting shot down by the Americans again, like last time.

The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

I am not a Tony Blair fan at all, although I do feel sorry for him on this. But he does appear to have ignored public opinion."

Frank Paterson, president of the Rotary Club of York

"I have been against war from the start. We have contained Saddam Hussein for the last 12 years since 1991 and I didn't see any reason to involve the country in overthrowing the regime, no matter how bad.

The fact that it didn't have UN support was what got me, although I would have felt reluctant even if the UN had agreed.

I still think it's wrong. We need to eradicate terrorism, that's a much greater threat."

Updated: 10:37 Wednesday, March 26, 2003