A small town's window on a polarized US

Blanketed in snow, dozens of small American flags flap forlornly outside the town hall of this Pennsylvania valley community, a stalwart if faded reminder of support for US troops in Iraq.

Yet as residents brush off the chill of a late winter storm and gather in diners, social clubs, and living rooms, talk of Iraq is heated and fraught with reservations.

"It was all about the oil," snaps accountant Donna Burke, lunching on potato chips and a sandwich at Whitehall's City View Diner. "We were all lied to about the weapons of mass destruction. We fooled a lot of other countries to get involved."

But across the room, pet groomer Gary Henry still believes the outlawed weapons will ultimately be found. "It's basically a fight against evil," he says as his 4-year-old son, Aaron, plays with plastic dinosaurs. "We had to go."

One year after President Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, Americans here and nationwide are sharply divided over whether the war was right or wrong. As violence mounts in Iraq against supporters of a new regime, US troop deaths near 600, and the US price tag for the war climbs to $120 billion in some estimates, Americans also disagree on the best way out.

Nowhere, perhaps, is that more true than in the rolling hills of the Lehigh Valley, where the township of Whitehall offers a microcosm of American sentiment on the war and the role it plays in the 2004 presidential race.

A cluster of small blue-collar and middle class neighborhoods, this community of 25,000 sits in the heart of a classic swing district in the swing state of Pennsylvania. At the crossroads of Democratic manufacturing areas and Republican farmlands of the Pennsylvania Dutch, this congressional district backed Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore.

In a nod to the region's political importance, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry stopped by a Whitehall diner on Sunday for a plate of waffles and conversation. Then on Monday, President Bush paid a visit to neighboring Montgomery County to tout homeownership. Bush was also met by a crowd protesting policies on issues including Iraq.

Slightly more than half of Americans now back the war decision, including strong majorities of Republicans and men. Nearly 40 percent oppose it, including most Democrats and women, polls show. Overall support drops below 50 percent when people are asked if the war was necessary, urgent, or worth the loss of life and financial burden.

"There is a hard base of support, [and] hard base of opposition," says independent pollster Tim Hibbitts.

To be sure, Americans are far more united in their backing of US troops and confidence in US military strength, part of a deep strain of patriotism on display with the flags and yellow ribbons in Whitehall and nationwide. Still, the country splits again over whether or not US forces should stay in Iraq until a stable government emerges.

Indeed, while not the dominant election issue, attitudes on Iraq are helping to shape the choices of voters in this contested House district and across the country. The district has sizable military reserve and National Guard units that were recently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and military veterans make up 13 percent of its voting-age population. As of January, Pennsylvania had suffered the third-highest number of military casualties in Iraq.

This week, as snow flurries swept the valley and nearby South Mountain, the Monitor visited Whitehall residents in their homes and favorite hangouts and found no shortage of opinions - both blunt and nuanced - on the war.

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