While relaxing at Starbusters and watching the Packers play the Buccaneers, the conversation suddenly turned from normal Sunday football banter to a world away.

“Eventually this is going to turn into World War III,” Douglas Lane said as he sipped his beer and glanced at terrorist leader Osama bin Laden on a television screen across the room at Starbusters Bar and Grill, 930 Pappas Drive.

Chris Bushman disagreed, citing the amount of United Nations support for U.S. actions.

“What they did to us was outrageous, and the rest of the world sees that we have to do something about it,” Bushman said. “Seriously, this is not going to start World War III.”

Both Lane and Bushman once served in the Army, but currently reside in DeKalb and are not active in the armed forces.

Lane says he fears that support from many countries will wane as the lengthy war against terrorism drags on.

“The terrorists are going to attack countries that support us and when they start to see their people die at the hands of the terrorists; they’re going to call on us to stop bombing Afghanistan,” Lane said. “But we’re not going to stop bombing, and we’re going to lose most of our support. That’s how World War III will start.”

Lane says he doesn’t know when these things will occur, but he is sure that they will.

“Whether it is two years or six years from now, we will be in the middle of a third World War,” Lane said.

Not everyone agrees that Sunday’s actions are a prelude to a World War, but most agree that the action is necessary.

“Bush is doing a good job, I’m glad he didn’t act on his emotions like many people in the U.S. would have liked him to,” Lane said.

While watching the same football game at Fatty’s Bar and Grill, 1312 W. Lincoln Highway, Gary Evans unknowingly agreed with Lane.

“Bush has probably taken the safest route to avoid getting us into a World War, so I’d say he’s doing a good job,” Evans said.

Evans said he was concerned about how Bush’s war on terrorism would end.

“I don’t want another Gulf War & I want something to be resolved,” Evans said.

Sitting on a bar stool at Molly’s Eatery and Drinkery, 1022 W. Lincoln Highway, Lori Anderson, a refund supervisor at NIU, supports the strikes. Anderson said she doesn’t condone violence, but something had to be done.

“The whole thing with these people is that we don’t understand them,” Anderson said. “For them it is an honor to die for a jihad, and we don’t understand that. We see them as criminals, but they think they’re saints.”

Anderson said the scariest thing about the terrorists is that they have been here and lived in our country for years.

“These people could be next door, they’ve ingrained themselves into our culture and were just waiting for the opportunity,” she said. “The thing is this isn’t the McCarthy era, I don’t think this is enough to make a witch hunt out of.”

Most people fear more attacks on U.S. soil by terrorists as Bush’s war on terrorism continues, but many DeKalb residents say they feel safe in the heartland.

“If I were in Chicago or worked at the Sears Tower, I would be very concerned, but I don’t think anyone is going to bomb Swen Parson,” Anderson said.