He thinks the war is wrong.

Parker, 21, is among a minority of the more than 5,000 sailors and airmen aboard this ship who are willing to express doubts about President George W. Bush's reasons for launching a military assault on Iraq almost three weeks ago.

"Why does our country always have to come over and dictate to these people how to live their lives, what's right, what's wrong? That's kinda like what they're tryin' to do here...Every country doesn't have to be made in the image of the US," Parker, of Clanton, Alabama, told AFP.

Another sailor, Jason Meeh, 21, has as little enthusiasm for the conflict. "If people ask my opinion of it I'll tell them that I really think it's not worth all the civilian lives and the lives of the soldiers and then all of the destruction that's actually happening because of bombs being dropped," he said.

US administration officials have accused Iraq of harbouring terrorists and say they want to liberate the Iraqi people from an oppressive regime and eliminate President Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Many sailors say they agree with those arguments and will do whatever Bush tells them. The "bad guys" have to leave Iraq, they say.

One sailor, while expressing dislike for Navy life, said people would appreciate what the US had done "when there's Taco Bells and McDonald's" fast-food restaurants on the streets of Iraq.

But Meeh, from Fort Smith, Arkansas, commented: "You kind of follow the adage of 'monkey see, monkey do'. People are told one thing and they're afraid to have a different opinion of a pressing issue such as this one."

Parker, who works in the carrier's supply department, agreed. "These people, the only thing they understand is compliance," he said.

Many freely admit they are just in the Navy to earn some money and seem to have little opinion about Iraq.

And then there are those like Meeh and Parker who have taken the time to think about what's at stake.

Parker says that to him, being American means being able to think freely and question things.

"I mean to me, I think it's pretty obvious that this war isn't about terrorism. I don't believe that it's about freein' anybody," said Parker, whose thick upper arms tell of his interest in martial arts. In his spare time he studies Japanese.

Parker and Meeh both suspect the US has "imperial" ambitions in the region and that their country wants to control Iraq's vast oil riches.

"We're seein' half the story," Parker said. "This is something that money is involved in."

Rather than spur democracy in the Middle East, as the Bush administration hopes, the war could lead to increased terrorism, the two young sailors say.

"I think what this war is really going to do is create a bigger divide between our culture, the Western civilization, and those people of the Middle East and that part of the world who already hold anti-American views," said Meeh, an electrical technician who plans to attend university when his four years of navy service end in about 12 months.

Parker said that the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes that killed thousands in New York and Washington initially left him wondering what the attackers wanted.

"I'm like, why are these people attacking us, these Arabian people? What is their problem?"

Now he says he understands.

"I mean this war is a prime example of why they do the things that they do and I mean what other choice do they have?" he said. "Are they gonna just directly go to war with us? No. The only way that they can speak out and say we don't like what you're doin' is to do the things that they do."

Meeh said his scepticism about the war will "raise some eyebrows" coming from a member of the military. He hesitated before agreeing to let his name be published.

But then he remembered the words of the Kitty Hawk's commander, Captain Thomas Parker, who Meeh said told the crew to speak honestly if approached by journalists.

"So I'm being honest. This is the way I feel," Meeh said.

Parker remembered the captain's words, too.

"This is the truth to the best of my knowledge," he said.

SPACE.WIRE