Saddam Hussein's recent buildup of troops along the Kuwaiti border presents no imminent threat to American security, Harvard students and professors said yesterday.

Assistant Professor of Government Eva Bellin, a specialist on Middle East affairs, said Hussein "has nothing to lose" by moving his troops near Kuwait.

"I can't believe that he is suicidal, and if he sees Clinton moves in with full force, then he can always pull back," Bellin said. "I think a forceful response is the only way to deal with the situation [when there is] a matter of national interests at stake, and of human rights even."

Suzanne J. Cooper, assistant professor of public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, said Clinton needs to maintain a strong military presence to deter Hussein's actions.

"I'm not personally in favor of having U.S. troops endangered, but it's hard to know what else Clinton could do," Cooper said.

Still, not all students approved of the dispatch of troops to the Persian Gulf.

"Personally I think that the United States should keep its arms and legs in its own place, and it shouldn't try to police the world again," said Guoneng Zhong '97. "The world doesn't get more democratic by showing force in Kuwait."

And the mission's timing--just four weeks before midterm elections in which Democrats are vulnerable--has called the administration's intentions into question, said Kim M. Nichols '97.

"The C.I.A. has known for months and months, and it might just be a play by the Clinton Administration to increase popularity, because war tends to do that, sick as that is," Nichols said.

Stanfield Professor of International Peace Robert O. Keohane said that while increased public approval ratings may be one effect of the military action, he doubts that popularity was Clinton's motivation, instead focusing on Saddam's sudden troop movement.

"I don't think Saddam's intention was to raise Clinton's popularity," Keohane said. "But it's conceivable he might simply have wanted to make U.S. troops travel 10,000 miles to impose costs on the U.S. for maintaining sanctions."

Not all students were pessimistic about the adminstration's response did not pervade among all students.

"I think that President Clinton is doing a very solid job, and I think that the U.S. should use everything in its power to solve the situation once and for all," said Kyle E. Kimball '95. "I am very glad that we have the U.N. behind us."

Some said they were embarrassed to say that they did not know "a whole lot about the situation.

And one senior was unapologetic, saying. "I don't know anything because I don't read newspapers, and I don't have any need for them.