Last Saturday another Persian Gulf War casualty was slain by the guns of haste and violence -- peace.

By not giving the Soviet peace plan careful consideration, the U.S. administration shot down the most comprehensive diplomatic attempt to end the war to date. By beginning a ground war despite the plan, without notifying the Soviet Union, it sacrificed thousands of human lives that may be lost to the intimate brutality of a ground war.

Amid all the confusion the war has created, one thing is clear -- diplomacy has never been given a chance. The administration has continually forfeited any real diplomatic efforts to achieve the U.N. demand for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait.

On Aug. 15, military troops, instead of diplomats, were sent to Saudi Arabia to protect the ever-changing interest of the United States. On Feb. 23, military troops, instead of diplomats, began the battle to recapture Kuwait.

But this bloodshed could have been avoided if the United States had shown the temerity to choose the hard won path to peace.

The Soviets' peace plan, although lacking in detail, would have peacefully achieved the U.N. demands. Once again, as the conflict escalates, the United Nations has taken a back seat to the ambitions of the Bush admnistration.

The proposal offered the complete removal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait within 21 days without linking the Israeli/Palestinian issue. With leadership from the United States, this proposal could have brought about a ceasefire and a timetable for future diplomatic talks.

However, the Bush administration retaliated with unrealistic demands -- like the removal of all Iraqi troops from Kuwait City within 48 hours -- and another ultimatum. These rash actions show that the Bush administration never seriously considered the Soviet proposal and that the decision to begin a ground war was set long ago.

It's time President Bush be forthright with the American public. The sketchy details provided by the administration throughout the war and its constantly vacilating goals have made it difficult for the public to make an informed decision.

With the number of American casualties increasing daily, it has become even more important that the president communicate his true intentions and motives for involvement in the area without reciting the rhetoric of liberation and democracy.

As impenetrable tanks pound the life out of human beings and the sounds of artillery fire become ever more intense, we have again buried the possibility of peace.