Depending upon whom you listen to or read, president Bush is in the Middle East for the first time (in his presidency) working on a peaceful settlement to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Well, sort of. Many believe he is attempting to find his legacy there. Some think he already has...

Then there are those who believe he is there to drum up support for attacking Iran. This faction believes that he's attempting to get the good will of all these Middle Eastern nations he is visiting so attacking Iran won't hurt the U.S. economically. And by "economically," of course, the meaning is "a diminishment of oil supply."

The third faction believes Bush is simply there to sell arms to Middle Eastern countries.
Help stabilize the region, as it were. (Stabilizing the most volatile region on the planet by an infusion of war materiel just sounds counter-intuitive, does it not?) And that may be the plan. He's announced a $30 billion package to Israel. He also announced a $20 billion package to Saudi Arabia. Other arms packages are sure to come as he makes his way through his 8-day tour.

This writer proposes a fourth faction. How about all three of the other schools of thought combined? Why not? He's already there. Might as well kill three birds with one trip in installments. Pitch the Palestinian-Israeli peace deal. Push the as-you-guys-all-know-Iran-is-part-of-the-"Axis-of-Ev il"-so-attacking-them-is-a-good-thing argument. Make a few billion dollars in arms deals. Who would have thought that Dubya the Dimwit was a multi-tasker?

Let's just hope the moron doesn't get us involved in another war while he's touring. While in Israel, Bush visited the Palestinians. He joked that he didn't have a problem getting his 45-car entourage through the Israeli checkpoints (those same hated checkpoints maintain a chokehold on Palestinian movement within the region). Thank heavens he is taking his one-man act back to Crawford, Texas, in a year.

Of course, the faction this writer sides with also believes that that isn't soon enough...