ISU political science professors agree with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s assessment that the United States is prepared for a war with Iraq if the need arises.

In an interview on PBS last week, he said, “if the president makes that decision, the Department of Defense is prepared and has the capabilities and strategy to do that.”

The exact cost of a potential war with Iraq is unknown, but Mitch Daniels, White House office management and budget director, estimates the cost at between $50 billion and $60 billion.

Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science, said he has been reading and listening to opinions about war and believes that the United States is financially prepared.

“A war like this, even though it seems like it’d be expensive, for an economy like that of the United States, would not be that much of a challenge,” he said. “From what I understand it will cost only 1 percent of the gross national product.”

Schmidt said the military is also ready for war.

“The U.S. has overwhelming military capabilities and technical equipment designed for not only modern warfare but warfare of this sort,” he said.

Joel Moses, professor of political science, said he believes U.S. citizens usually support war.

“Generally Americans do support war, if there’s international support,” he said.

Schmidt said he also believes there is American support for war.

“I think there is sufficient evidence that Americans think Saddam Hussein is a bad guy,” he said. “People are fairly willing to take on Saddam Hussein.”

Schmidt said he doesn’t believe the presence of American troops in Iraq makes war inevitable if Hussein were to cooperate and disarm. “I think the U.S. felt that Saddam Hussein was not going to behave himself and disarm and give up his ambitions unless he was militarily threatened,” he said.

Schmidt said he believes if Saddam surrenders and goes into exile, then U.S. troops would use their presence to help a new ruler rebuild the country and remove weapons of mass destruction.

“Those scenarios are not very likely because Saddam Hussein seems to not want to comply with the [United Nations],” he said.

Moses said he believes Iraq has also developed a substantial army in case of American invasion.

“They have an army of 350,000 to 400,000 troops,” he said. “You can try to prettify it by saying we’re going to liberate them, but basically we’re going to invade.”

Moses said it is likely that a war with Iraq would lead to anti-American attacks. He said Osama Bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is the only ruler other than President Bush who supports a war with Iraq.

Americans can help rebuild Iraq after a potential war, but he said it will take time, Moses said.

“If we’re serious about establishing a democracy there, we’re talking 15 to 20 years,” he said.

Schmidt said he disagrees with other countries who say the United States should give Saddam more time to disarm.

“I get really sick of hearing [to] give him four more months when four years or 11 years [since past wars with Iraq] haven’t made a difference,” he said. “It seems to me that at some point you just say ‘this is it.’ “

— CNN contributed to this story.