The Unloading Zone: A Life-Long (until recently) Republican is forced to ask: "When Did George W. Bush Go Insane?"

I originally voted for George W. Bush based on his credentials and the way he worked with both Democrats and Republicans as Texas Governor. After 8 polarizing years of Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress, he seemed exactly what we needed.

I didn't like what he did to the bankruptcy laws or his attempt to get into bed with Ted Kennedy on Health Care. Predictably, Kennedy later stabbed Bush in the back. Maybe that's where the insanity began.

I liked the way Bush handled 9/11. He conducted himself the way an American President should. This may have started his slide to insanity too, though.

We can Monday morning quarterback attacking Iraq and if I knew today what I knew then, I would not have supported the attack. What scares me is that if George W. Bush knew today what he knew then, I think he would have done the exact same thing.

In my post Mr. Obama, Wake up and Smell the Gunpowder, I outlined the probable scenario which played out at the White House prior to our going into Iraq. Based on that scenario, I would have supported going in as did (gulp!) Hillary and most Americans.

In Monday morning quarterbacking it, our best move would have been to actually treat Iraq more like Korea; even support Saddam a little bit. The sad fact is that, take away the oil, most Middle East nations are living in the Middle Ages. Clans, tribes, family honor: these all mean more than a created nation like "Iraq". They needed a strong (he could have been a little bit more benevolent) dictator like Saddam to hold the country together. Iraq was a Sunni-controlled, strategically located area in the midst of Shiite insanity. Saddam stood between Syria and Iran and kept either one from getting too out of line. Despite his bluster, Saddam knew we kicked his army to pieces in Gulf War I and were even better positioned today to steamroll over them if he got too out of line again.

Where Saddam miscalculated was how far he could go in his rhetoric before a post-9/11 America would jump the gun and attack.

George Bush completely blew the peace with too few military in place, disbanding the Iraqi army, and firing any (which means most) bureaucrats who were Sunni, thus allowing the entire Iraqi infrastructure to collapse.

Today we're between a rock and a hard place: we can't stay and we can't leave. The solutions floated involving a partition of Iraq into Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd regions with assurances of equitable oil distribution is probably the best we can do at this point.

And in walks George W. Bush again. "Give me $48BB more for the war!", he cries. And now, out of nowhere, we have all but declared war on Iran! We can't even sustain the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: how, short of going nuclear, are we going to fight a war with Iran too?

And to what point? Install Democracy in yet another country not ready for it? Unify the rest of the Shiite world against, not only us, but Saudi Arabia, the rest of the moderate Middle Eastern nations and, of course, Israel. WHERE DID THIS IDEA COME FROM??????????

A month ago there was American rhetoric. Today, we declared unilateral sanctions against the entire Iranian armed forces???!!!!!! What is THAT going to accomplish except unite the Iranians against us? We are seriously looking at all-out war with Iran within the next 60 days if not sooner at the rate Bush keeps ratcheting up the stakes. TO WHAT POINT?

There are only two logical conclusions one can draw from these actions: the United States Government has serious, verified intelligence that Iran represents an IMMINENT threat........or George W. Bush has gone insane.

The field of political candidates now have an issue other than Illegal Immigration they are going to have to own up to. My advise for everyone but Hillary is to STRONGLY oppose a US/Iran war. Iran is going to have to be dealt with some day, and with Iraq gone as an obstacle to the Iranians, one which is going to be very difficult to resolve.

But when the time comes, Iran needs to be dealt with in concert with a number of other nations, not unilaterally by Pax America. And (unless Bush knows something critical I don't) it should NOT be dealt with NOW. We have more than enough on our military plate. Maintaining the status quo until the next President comes into office is going to be difficult enough. And only the NEXT President will be in a position to actually bring all this to some kind of close. WHO the next President is will determine what kind of close that is.

If Hillary is the next President, then we'll just pack up and leave, giving Iraq to Iran and Syria. Soon after that, we will have a REAL problem in the Middle East.

What can George Bush do in the meantime and Congress as well? Wean us off of Middle Eastern Oil! Open up Alaska: the Alaskan people want it. The caribou will get over it. Open up off-shore drilling. Not doing it is a luxury we can't afford anymore. I'm sorry if it ruins some of the Hollywood elite's view of the ocean.

Build refineries! Take the $43BB you want to increase war spending and build refineries! All the oil in the world won't do us any good without refineries and we haven't built new ones in decades. Also on that subject, why do we have 40 different grades of gasoline and heating oil? Come up with three and let the States pick the version they want. The price of gas will fall, the speed of gas to market will increase, the whole process will be so much more efficient!

Build Nuclear Power plants! It's not the 1970's anymore: the Europeans and Japanese have developed cookie-cutter designs which are safe, easy and quick to assemble. Cut all the red tape! Even the hated (by me) French are 80% nuclear now. The US is barely 10%.

The less dependent we are on Middle Eastern oil (currently at an all-time high), the less relevant they are, the less we have to worry about them, and the less power they will wield. Then we can leave them to themselves to figure out which is the "correct" version of Islam and other issues we have absolutely no interest in.

But for God's sake, Mr President, DON'T GET US INTO ANOTHER WAR!!!!! I wouldn't even wish THAT on Hillary.