"Freedom, democracy and having the right to say whatever you feel like and you're not going to get hassled" is what America means, said Maher "Mark" Ramahi, who manages B&M Market in Farrell. "That's why we're the greatest country in the world," the 34-year-old Muslim added.

The American-born businessman, who is of Palestinian heritage, emphasized that his U.S. citizenship is precious to him, but he also made it clear that the war in Iraq troubles him greatly.

"We have major problems here that we can't even take care of. My God, you can't work and live on a McDonald's job," he said, referring to recent announcements of local plant closings and unemployment across the nation. "We just got rid of our deficit and we're getting it back again."

He also said he has gotten complaints about the cost of the war from veterans who are customers at his grocery store. Ramahi said the vets were upset about proposed tax cuts in the federal budget that could affect their benefits.

"There's (big) cuts to their benefits and they fought for us. They're our soldiers," he said, referring to money from the federal budget going toward the war.

He said some veterans express opinions against the war when they come to the store. "They think it's an unjust war, but everyone supports the troops. I think it's an unjust war, too, but I support the troops. We have customers in the military who came here (to shop) before they left and they're just following orders," Ramahi said.

"We do hear a few customers say, 'Let's wipe them all out.' People are very misinformed. Some say we're going after Saddam because of the twin towers. I say what about bin Laden? This war is going to affect me (and my family). I might get picked up and get even more racially profiled than I already am."

He expressed worry about misinformation concerning Islam. "It's probably the most peaceful religion in the world. ... We have all kinds of fanaticism in all religions -- I never heard of bin Laden until the twin towers. There's all kind of fanatics in each religion who take things out of context."

But despite his belief that the war is more about oil and protecting Israel and big corporations, he still has faith in the United States.

"This is the greatest country in the world," he repeated. "There's a difference between the people and the foreign policy of the U.S. I regret any single person dying over there. But I don't think it's going to be a quick war like they think. It's going to be like the Palestine occupation down the road. We'll see guerrilla warfare there."