by encumbering the funds from the vast amounts of money Bush has accumulated from his and his families oil holdings over the past six years. When that's tapped-out, go after Cheney's; then Wolfawitz's; and then Rice's. Then, place them all in minimum wage jobs for one year to see if they can make a go at it at the poverty level they have turned a blind eye and ear to over the past six years. Heavens, with that hefty pay raise the poor might just recieve (until Bush vetos it) they will be able to buy some extra gasoline and a whopper or two. You know, whoppers. Like the lies Bush revels in telling.

I agree, Bush is setting the stage to attack Iran & Syria. Many things have been put in motion: US aircraft carriers now positioned in the Persian Gulf; "escalation" of troops; the shift of power in the intelligence agencies from civilian to military; and an astonishing amount of money Bush is requesting indicates he has other battles in mind.

Cheney has previous associations with many of the in-coming replacements. It is said they are "yes" men ready and willing to comply with whatever the WH has in mind. Additional Cheney acolytes extend thru-out the entire scope of the intelligence agencies. It appears he is attempting to cover all bases this time. Who says the WH does not learn from past mistakes. Too bad they are the kind of mistakes for failing to CYA versus mistakes that led to the futility of American occupation. They ignore the fact it is the US occupation, at least in-part, responsible for fueling the violence in Iraq.

The amount of money in Bush's emergency requests is staggering! Never mind the $5.6 billion -- that's chump change compared to the $70 billion already allocated for FY 2007. Add that to the $100 billion - $170 billion more dollars soon-to-be requested emergency funding means anywhere between $175 billion and $245 billion dollars will be spent on destruction, carnage and death in FY 2007.

What else could explain: the shift of power to Cheney's yes-men who now in key positions within the intelligence agencies , US a/f carriers stationed in the Persian Gulf, and emergency funding for hundreds of billions of dollars? The aforementioned coupled with Bush's speech leaves little room for imagination.

The irony is a surge of American troops will be out-numbered by a surge of American enemies world-wide. Sheesh Bush cannot handle two wars ... imagine 5, maybe 6 simultaneous wars!

How many more must die at this madman's hands! Does anyone in their right mind consider our actions in the Middle East and elsewhere justifiable?

[FYI: US troops are in Somalia. After having launched air strikes in Somalia the US, claiming they were al-Qaeda, killed dozens of civilians instead. And the US sent several stealth fighters to South Korea in anticipation of or speculation that North Korea is about to test a nuclear device.]

Nicely done, Tim. Your analysis accomplished what others are using far more words to say much less well.

I have no rant of my own, so I'll just leave it at that.

Glad to have you in the Cap for the proceedings. Keep it up.

With three minutes to go in the game and the team is down five touchdowns. The coach gathers his boys around and says, "Okay, guys, this isn't working. We need a new plan and here it is. What we're gonna do, we're going to hit 'em hard, run the ball to daylight, pass long, play all our best plays, and win this game. Hell of a plan, huh, guys?"

"Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity – and stabilizing the region in the face of the extremist challenge. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq. Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria.

AND WE WILL SEEK OUT AND DESTROY THE NETWORKS PROVIDING ADVANCED WEAPONRY AND TRAINING TO OUR ENEMIES IN IRAQ."

(Emphasis mine)

Seek out and destroy can only be done with heavy armed force, whether by cruise missiles, air strikes, or special ops forces on the ground. And it can only be done by committing a UNILATERAL act of war!

(Israel to get more Patriot anti-missile batteries) read on:

"We are also taking other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and protect American interests in the Middle East. I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will expand intelligence sharing – and DEPLOY PATRIOT AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS (Emphasis mine) to reassure our friends and allies. We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border. AND WE WILL WORK WITH OTHERS (emphasis mine and meaning specifically ISRAEL) to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating the region.

So there you have it, buried in among all the other "Plans" Bush outlined is the real "Plan" and that is to prepare Israel to defend from a missile attack after the United States and Israeli forces attack Iran and Syria with nuclear and conventional weapons in a "First Strike" attack meant to reduce both countries to rubble.

If Bush sends any military force into the skies over either Syria or Iran it is an Act of War and those two countries will treat it as such.

No one should discount what this will mean. It will mean an all-out war on the United States of America by two countries who have the capability to infiltrate America across the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada to commit acts of terror, and/or to send cargo containers into our ports with dirty bombs and of course, their very first action will be to attack Israel with everything they've got.

If Bush wants to start Armageddon and get on with the Rapture, he's posed to do so.

Bush is a reckless sociopath who doesn't give a damn if he starts a region-wide conflagration that will force the U.S. to use its nuclear weapons because we lack the availability to fight a conventional ground war there.

Maybe this was Bush's plan all along. He wants to go down in history as the president who wiped out the Muslim world.

He's nuts. Just looking at his insane face on TV tonight made my skin crawl.

Our country is now in the most precarious situation we've faced since the Cuban Missile Crisis, and most of the people don't even realize it.