Has anyone noticed that every time president bush is presented with the oppourtunity, he will propose the need for the military to be given vast powers in dealing with domestic situations that are either real or imagined, such as hurricanes of the avain flu. Now just what is the GOP game plan here? Will there be a convenient situation, either real or imagined, around election time next year, that the administration can use as an excuse for the military to impose a curfew or a quarantine? Although the Congress has not declared war, bush has declared himself to be war president. This stance is being taken not to protect the country but to protect himself. The constitution states that only congress may declare war and likewise congress may declare a war to be over. This is the root cause of the quagmire in Iraq. If the congress had the moral backbone to do the right thing to begin with, the American people (acting through their representives) would not have lost control of the war. Had congress actually declared war it would now be able to claim that the aims of the war(the search for weapons of mass destruction)had been achieved and thus declare an end to it. This leaves us with the REAL reason for the war, which is a power grab by the president. There is no peace treaty that can put an end to a power grab. Power addicts desire a bigger and bigger fix, and if a suitable crisis cannot provide an excuse for a larger power grab, they will manufacture one.