Although I don't agree with him, I can understand why Dubya would have wanted to go to war with Iraq in the months leading up to the midterm elections. He may have been elected President, but it was only by the slimmest of electoral vote margins. At the same time, while his fellow Republicans maintained control of the House, they have temporarily lost control of the Senate when Sen. Jeffords turned independent. Seeing how successful his father's war with Iraq turned out in terms of his approval rating, combined with the fact that his approval rating is already still so high following the way he "handled" the events of September 11, 2001, another war with Iraq would surely have guaranteed a Republican landslide last month and possibly cemented his re-election in 2004.

Well, those midterm elections have come and gone and the spineless Democratic leadership scared most of their supporters into voting for moderate Republicans or third party candidates. Apparently, or at least, as the polls always seem to say, Dubya's support from the American people is as high as ever. So why is he still pushing so hard for a war with Iraq? Is he really worried that the conservative vote won't be enough to carry him against the likes of Gore or Sen. Kerry two years from now? I should think that the success of his administration in getting UN weapons inspectors back in Iraq should be enough, but apparently it's never enough. If that wasn't going to be enough for him from the start, then when did he even bother with pretending that he was interested in diplomatic solutions? He should have gone in, carpet bombed 'em, and then seen if the American people were still with him. As it is, I should think he's only alienating both his supporters and detractors. His detractors will continue to criticize him until he proves that Saddam really is a threat, while his supporters are failing to understand why he won't just take care of business and get the whole ordeal finished. This delaying, yet continuing to make open threats is helping noone, including himself.