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Many are skeptical as to what the plans of the President are in regards to the Middle East. At the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the President enjoyed a flood of support. However, that support has now dwindled to a trickle, and as the days pass, that too is waning. Soon after 911 Americans were looking for answers and most definitely wanted to see someone pay for the treachery of that day. The country was ripe to go to war with anyone that the government claimed was behind the terrorism.

Time is always the enemy of those that wage war. It does not take long before the people begin to see that things are not going as well as they had hoped. The government waged a war that was not truly a war, and it was implemented poorly. You cannot go to war and then hold anything back. This only serves to prolong the destruction, the loss of lives, and decreases the moral of your soldiers.

The mistake of the President and all involved in the planning of the war was that they tried to wage a politically correct war. They believed that the war would be over as soon as it started. They believed that the people of Iraq would welcome us with open arms. This is not the case as we now can see, but it is actually no surprise, because even Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview in 1994, "It's a quagmire if you go that far and try to take over Iraq." It is clear that the Vice President knew this then and it is not conceivable that he forgot it when we went in to Iraq this time.

So what exactly should the President say in his new Middle East Policy? Well, for starters he could say that we will be bringing our troops home incrementally and that will force the new Iraqi government to police itself. He could say that it is not in the best interest of the United States to continue meddling in the affairs of other nations through the use of war. It is not likely that these things will be said, or done, but instead things will continue as they are. We will continue to see more of our men and women die trying to help a people that are not desirous of our assistance.

We will hear the drumbeats increase against Iran, and it is likely that the U.S. will attack that nation as well, although it is not clear whether they will sacrifice ground troops, or merely use tactical nuclear strikes. I would not put it past them, because the ability to send troops in is decreasing, due to our military being stretched beyond measure.

We can gather from the latest media reports and

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