Support the troops."

The phrase has become part of our expanding war-time vocabulary. A lot of people get defensive about it, shouting and chanting it like some post-Vietnam mantra. But I'm not sure what it means.

If it means, "Let's hope nobody gets killed and all the men and women in the military come home soon," then sure, I'll support the troops. What scares me is that to a lot of people, it seems to mean something else. Something like, "Let's support our government's right to indiscriminately place human lives in danger." That, I will not go along with.

At several peace rallies around campus during the past month, I've heard angry counter-demonstrators yell "Support the troops" at those daring to hope for a quick end to the conflict. Apparently these pro-Bush (or pro-war, or pro-military, or whatever) people think that asking for American soldiers to come home alive is somehow unpatriotic. I don't understand.

In one of my classes, a student said, "I just don't think you can be against the war but still support the troops." What?

First of all, don't tell me how to support the troops. Whatever you think, their lives and safety are the main reasons I oppose this nightmare. I know people who are over there -- high school friends, relatives of friends -- and I want to see them again. All of the people I know who are against the war feel the same way.

Secondly, has anybody thought about why supporters of peace are now automatically seen as opponents of American soldiers?

I suspect a lot of it goes back to Vietnam, the war that will not go away. It has become a common belief that all of the anti-Vietnam protestors who helped end that morally ambiguous "police action" were first and foremost against the soldiers themselves. Over and over, I've heard people say demonstrators spat on, harassed and abused returning veterans.

I'm not saying some of that didn't go on, or that it wasn't cruel, but it was a small part of a much larger picture. Many Vietnam vets became anti-war demonstrators themselves. Surely, they were primarily concerned about American soldiers. And, like today, the peace movement's anger was directed at the President and Congress, not the men and women of the military.

Who really mistreated Vietnam veterans? Who put them in understaffed, unhygenic veterans' hospitals? Who has been taken to court over and over for failure to pay veterans' benefits? Who refuses to acknowledge the damage done by Agent Orange? The U.S. government.

The same government that would have us believe the best way to support the troops in Saudi Arabia is to support the current war. I don't buy it.

Yes, I believe that soldiers in the desert think anti-war protestors are insulting them personally. Like most people of our generation, they have been taught that. If they come back alive and healthy, they can harass me all they want for opposing the conflict. All I want is for them to come home.

Any rational analysis of the last six months shows that the decision to go to war was pre-mature. We could have waited a long time. Saddam Hussein is not another Hitler -- he was stalemated by the second week of August. Our precious coalition, which was bought and paid for with American money, would have fallen apart only if we could no longer afford the other countries' salaries. That's not a good enough reason to go to war. The coalition is more symbolic than substantial anyway -- it lets us pretend this isn't really our war.

The fact is, there were other ways to deal with Saddam Hussein. A clear message from the State Department that an invasion of Kuwait would provoke massive retaliation might have avoided the situation before it began. Instead, the Bush administration all but gave Hussein the green light. Why didn't Bush himself fly to Baghdad at the end of July, when Iraq's intent to invade became clear? Real attempts at diplomacy after the invasion could also have made a difference. James Baker and Tariq Aziz talking at each other for six hours does not constitute a real attempt at diplomacy.

Because the United States did not pursue these avenues in good faith, we as a country are partially responsible for every death on either side. That, like the entire conflict, is pathetic.

Support the troops. Don't you owe it to the soldiers to know the real history of the situation before you're willing to let them die?

Support the troops. Is it worth your life? Your brother's or sister's? Would you really feel proud if someone you knew and loved died in this mess?

Support the troops. Enjoy the war --cheer American bombs; be happy when Iraqis die; laugh about how we're "kicking some butt."

A friend told me he gave the finger to a peace rally on College Avenue. I don't know if he was kidding. I don't really care. It's not funny.

At another rally, a passing pedestrian sneered, "Peace sucks." I'll bet he supports the troops too.

So go ahead -- strut around like Uncle Sam's peacock, fanning the flag on your tail feathers and crowing about the glory of our weapons.

Like millions of other people, I will shake my head and hope for the best.