At home, cheers mix with wariness.

Byline: Jeff Wright, Scott Maben and Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

The fall of Baghdad gave rise Wednesday to pride, relief, anguish and worry - and that was just in Lane County.

Some people said they didn't know how to respond to TV images of Iraqis cheering Marines and toppling a statue of Saddam Hussein - and may not know until they see what plays out in the weeks, months and even years ahead.

At Berean Baptist Church in Eugene, where a prayer bulletin board displays the pictures of nearly a dozen loved ones in the military, Pastor Mike Jaskilla said he felt more ambivalence than joy.

"You're happy that it's over, but you also realize a terrible price was paid before and during the war," he said. "I'm glad to see the Iraqi people cheering and expressing a sense of freedom and relief. But only time will tell if that's really the overwhelming sentiment."

The emotions ranged from the delight of John Stanks, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 3965 in Springfield, to the dismay of Ingrid Wendt, a Eugene poet and anti-war activist.

At the VFW post, the TV tuned into the latest war news all day, "and most of us watched it (at home) before we got here," said Stanks, who spent 30 years in the Navy. "The reception of the people there when they see our troops come in, the fall of the statue, it's just great."

Stanks said he was impressed that Baghdad fell in only three weeks and was particularly struck by the contributions of U.S. reservists. "These are basically civilians for 95 percent of the time, yet they're doing so good," he said. "That, to me, is simply amazing and has got to say something about our training."

Wendt said she was bothered by the "tone of jubilation" reflected in much of the TV coverage she saw.

"I'm afraid it will obscure the harsher realities of the cost of winning this war, of all the suffering and death we've caused, of how we've alienated so many countries and people around the world," she said. "It's really hard to know if all the suffering we've inflicted is justified."

Less ambivalent were some area residents with family in or near Iraq.

"I've had tears in my eyes all day watching the Iraqi people rally around our soldiers," said Sharon Shubert of Santa Clara, whose son, Cpl. Jerod Kuhnly, 22, is a crash-rescue firefighter stationed in Kuwait.

"I am so proud of our military and, of course, my Marine," Shubert said. "It's just fantastic to see these people get semi-free. It just makes my heart smile."

She lamented the looting in some parts of Baghdad, but said it's hard to blame Iraqi citizens after living under Saddam's rule for so long. "I just thank God for them because now they've got this murderous bastard out of the way, they can start to rule their own country."

With a son she believes is in the heart of Baghdad, Eugene resident Tonya Claxton was more guarded.

"I hope this is the beginning of the end, and the soldiers and Iraqi people can have some peace and it can all end," said Claxton, whose son, Adam Taylor, 19, is a machine gunner in the Marines with the 1st Division, 4th Battalion.

"It's a better picture than we were looking at two weeks ago," Claxton said. "It's still kind of scary from my standpoint, but it has given me some relief."

Linda Winn of Springfield said her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Johan Winn, 20, is just outside of Baghdad and called home unexpectedly Tuesday. He spoke with his new wife, Kristi.

"He called to say he's fine, nothing has happened to him, he's not been shot at," Winn said. "The word is now that his group may be back in California by June 1."

It was the first time the family had spoken with him since a week before the war began.

Winn said she finds the images of celebrating Iraqis on the streets of Baghdad an encouraging turn in the war.

"I hope the Iraqis will look at the Americans as something good," she said. "I hope they all will appreciate what will happen."

At the University of Oregon, Jane Cramer, a professor of political science with expertise in international security issues, said the strategy

for winning the war has gone better than she expected - it's moved fast and hasn't involved chemical or biological weapons.

"But it's not over in terms of winning the peace, and that's the main thing," she said. "Winning the peace is the hard part here."

Much is riding, she said, on whether President Bush allows the United Nations to oversee the installation of a new government, or heeds advisers urging him to impose a U.S.-backed administration that's friendly to U.S. corporate interests but unpopular among Iraqis.

With a U.N.-sanctioned approach, "there's still a chance that the rest of the world will say this was a good thing," Cramer said.

William Baugh, a UO professor of political science who studies military strategy, put more emphasis on the here and now: The fall of Baghdad, he said, could portend the rapid melting away of opposition elsewhere in Iraq.

Baugh said he wasn't surprised many Iraqis have waited until now to show their emotions, considering what happened in the first Persian Gulf War when the United States failed to depose Saddam.

"We really blew it in 1991, so I don't blame them for being skeptical," he said. "But what they're seeing now is pretty convincing that at the very least the Americans are going to see to it that Saddam's regime falls."

David Zupan, an activist with Eugene PeaceWorks, said he was concerned by what he's not seen on TV - such as evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that were a primary justification for the war.

Images of toppled statues and celebrating civilians could make it easier for Bush to act on suggestions that he now invade other Middle East countries, Zupan said.

"It's clearly more of a danger that people will conclude that since the `might makes right' approach worked here, it can work elsewhere," he said.

Carol Van Houten, a member of the Eugene peace group Progressive Responses, said Wednesday's events saddened her.

She's been watching war coverage on an Italian television station and the images - focusing on civilian casualties rather than toppling statues - are far different.

Van Houten said she's sad for the wounded children and concerned by the lack of supplies and the resulting hunger and thirst. "I don't think Americans are getting that picture at all. They're getting all the `rah, rah' military victory stuff," she said.

Van Houten said she also was concerned about U.S. troops and the images of death they will come home with.

"They may be proud of what they accomplished, but they have to have some nagging doubts about the damage to innocent people," she said.