Remember those Iraqi men shouldering new car tires and tugging refrigerators down Baghdad streets in March 2003, giving the thumbs-up to our Marines, who stood at their posts?

Many American troops interpreted that gesture as a symbol of support. But most savvy travelers insist that the gesture is the foulest of Iraqi insults, meaning, “Up yours” and tantamount to the middle finger gesture. The thumbs up gesture also has a pejorative meaning in parts of West Africa, Russia, Australia, Iran, Greece and Sardinia

It’s likely that the ostensibly cheering Iraqi were, in fact, silently voicing their displeasure. The reason I mention this is because of the sheer amount of thumbs upping that occurred in Iraq in 2003, when we thought they were grateful for the “liberation.”

Now, legend has it that during Roman gladiatorial contests, the emperor could spare a defeated gladiator with a thumbs up or issue an execution order with a thumbs down. But that Hollywood “swords and epics” notion has recently been debunked. Classics professor Anthony Philip Corbeill claims that thumbs up actually meant “kill him” and a closed fist with a wrap-around thumb meant, “let him live.” Interesting notion.

The thumbs up gesture’s popularization in America is usually attributed to the practices of World War II pilots, who used the thumbs up to communicate with ground crews prior to take off. American GIs allegedly picked up on the thumb and spread it throughout Europe as they marched toward Berlin. More recently, President Ronald Reagan revived the thumbs up gesture, reflecting his sunny, can-do attitude.

Switch now to early May 2004, when George W. Bush, perhaps emulating the late Ronald Reagan’s bouncy optimism, undertook a four-day bus tour, praising his tax cuts and condemning everyone who says American workers need protection in the global economy. George’s battle cry was “Yes, America can” and his signature gesture was – you guessed it – the thumbs up.

Attempting to shift U.S. voters away from the Iraq prison scandal and toward the “recovering job market.” GWB seized on some encouraging Labor Department numbers – 288,000 jobs created in April – and cast John Kerry as the dour New England pessimist, always droning on with bad news. Bush, on the other hand, was the bouncy Texas optimist, always flashing an easy smile and that big thumbs-up.

Positive presidential thinking and thumbs-upping, however, couldn’t seem to hide the fact that more than 82 percent of the jobs created in April were in service industries, including restaurants and retail, and most were temporary.

Watching Bush give the thumbs up in the face of so much economic misery reminded me of that recent widely circulated photograph taken in Iraq. There are Spc. Charles Graner and Pvt. Lynndie England, the happy couple, standing above a pile of tortured Iraqi inmates, grinning and giving the double thumbs up. Everything is fine, they seemed to say. Just don’t look down.

So now we have the quintessential Bush pose, a ready smile and a thumbs-up to all. Convinced that U.S. voters want a positive president in the Reagan mold, Bush uses optimism as an offensive weapon. No matter how devastating the crisis, no matter how many lives are lost, no matter how many of our troops have fled dead-end McJobs, abusive prisons, unaffordable education and closed factories to liberate the Iraqis, they’re all given the thumbs up.

Maybe it’s time for the Bush team to reconsider just what that ubiquitous thumbs up gesture really means to the rest of the world. Remember that thumbs down originally meant sheath your sword and let the “victim” live. Think about that.

Maybe we should remember that Americans, just 4 percent of the world’s population, use certain gestures that can mean something offensive to the other 96 percent.

For example, when an American signals that everything is OK, fine, perfect, great, he raises his hand and makes a circle with his thumb and forefinger. But he should remember that in France it means zero, or worthless; in Japan, it means money; in Malta it means that someone is a “pooftah,” a male homosexual; and in Sardinia and Greece it’s an obscene comment or insult to either a male or female.

Makes you kind of wonder why there’s so much misunderstanding worldwide, doesn’t it? We need to be much more careful how we use our thumbs. Okay?

Observer columnist Robert Brake, who can be reached at oobear@pacifier.com, has taught courses, conducted workshops and seminars, and written a book and numerous articles about nonverbal communication.