Despite their various cultures, religions and backgrounds, most of Penn's international students agree on one thing -- that the United States should not be at war with Iraq.
"I think the war should be a last resort," said Engineering junior William Yeoh, who is from Malaysia.
Most international students say they oppose the war -- however, they maintain that they still support the U.S. troops overseas.
And many said the United States should not have gone to war without the support of the United Nations.
"I support the opinion of France on the issue," College senior and French citizen Claire Michal said. "I wish some people were more informed about the French position.... They should have a broader perspective about the issue."
Students also disagreed on the way this operation has been conducted by the White House, both abroad and at home.
"I don't like the way the Bush administration is using people's fear for the war," Michal said. "I don't think it's a good way of doing it."
Furthermore, many students did not feel that the Iraqi government gave the United States enough "commencing reason" to launch an attack on the region, according to Peruvian student Ignacio Montero, a College senior.
And some said that they felt the cost of this conflict is likely to fall, for the most part, on the shoulders of the Iraqi civilians -- and that Saddam Hussein will suffer relatively little.
Several international students said that the media had not given them enough information about the Iraqi side of the conflict, thus making the war coverage "very biased," according to Montero.
"It seems a lot like propaganda to me," he said.
Finally, many also declared that they would have preferred to give U.N. inspectors more time to complete their task to avoid, or at least postpone, military action.
"I'm against [the war] because I think it was too early to get into it," an international Wharton graduate student said.
Despite these strong sentiments, however, international students are, at times, hesitant to voice their opinions in front of their American classmates.
"I'm worried about how people will consider me because I am French," Michal said. "I prefer not to say anything."
But for the most part, the majority of international students have maintained that war has scarcely affected their way of life in the United States.
"Right now, I'm living life as before the war," Yeoh said. Also, most of the students have said that they are not very concerned about possible attacks on U.S. soil.
"I'm not particularly preoccupied about attacks," Yeoh said. "There is not much I can do to prevent them."
Despite the concerns that many parents have expressed -- which often surpass the students' own anxieties -- few of them have seriously considered withdrawing their children from Penn.
According to Yeoh, "my family places more importance on my education."
