NASHUA – Opponents of a war with Iraq told Sen. Joseph Lieberman the government was heading in the wrong direction during the former vice presidential candidate’s visit to Daniel Webster College.

Lieberman was one of 29 Democrats who voted for the war resolution, giving President Bush the authority to use military force against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. All but one Republican in the Senate supported the measure, which passed 77-23.

The Nashua Democratic City Committee hosted the coffee-and-muffin get-together Tuesday morning at Daniel Webster College’s student union.

College campuses are typically friendly places for Democrats, and a good-humored Lieberman did his share of picture-signing and cracking jokes. While Lieberman’s talk focused on bread-and-butter issues, people attending the session questioned him about foreign policy.

War critic Morton Goulder of Hollis told Lieberman the idea of starting a war in the Middle East is foolish.

Goulder is a former deputy assistant secretary of defense under Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter. He helped found the defense-industry company formerly known as Sanders, now BAE Systems.

“Preemptive strikes against people you don’t like is crazy,” he said.

Goulder told Lieberman that Bush is a “terrorist in the White House.”

Liz Wright, an associate professor at Rivier College, told Lieberman she was a fan of his, but said his vote in favor of the war resolution was disappointing.

There is a “very silent majority” of people opposing the move to war, said Wright, who registered as a Republican to support Sen. John McCain in the 2000 election.

“My prayer is this resolution of unity will lead the U.N.” to action, Lieberman said, adding later that “nobody wants to go to war.”

The “dissent is healthy,” he said.

Lieberman, a senator from Connecticut, said he has thought since the 1991 Desert Storm war that the American-led forces stopped too early and should have ousted Saddam. A member of the hawkish wing of his party, Lieberman voted to give former President Bush the authority to push Saddam out of Kuwait.

With three weeks to go before Election Day, Lieberman, who is considering a run for the presidency in 2004, spent two days in the state in a show of support for Democrats running for state offices and Congress.

At his talk at Daniel Webster College, Lieberman saluted President Bush for his leadership against terrorism. However, he contrasted the economic picture during the Clinton administration to the higher unemployment rate and budget deficit under the Bush administration.

“He doesn’t even talk about (the economy),” Lieberman said of Bush. “We elected (him) to lead on more than one issue at a time.”

© 2002, Telegraph Publishing Company, Nashua, New Hampshire

###