President Bush sent Congress a $2.9 trillion spending request Monday that requests $100 billion for Iraq and the war on terror in addition to $70 billion previously requested. Administration officials hope that requests for additional war funds will decrease in the coming years, but this depends on whether the war improves.

The cover of the Feb. 5 edition of The Nation said, "World opinion is against the U.S. escalation in Iraq. The American people are against it. Congress is against it. The Iraqi people are against it. The Iraqi government is against it. Can a single man force a nation to fight a war it does not want to fight, to expand a war it does not want to expand? If he can, is that nation any longer a democracy in any meaningful sense?"

The wanton invasion of Iraq and the subsequent destructive turns it has taken have left Iraq in shambles and the rest of the world astonished as they watch the basic infrastructure of a gigantic state implode and disintegrate.

To call what is happening in Iraq a war is a misnomer. The word "war" implies a conflict between two separate entities. Iraqi forces never set foot upon American soil, nor did they harm any Americans in any targeted confrontations prior to the current bloodshed. The words "invasion" and "occupation" seem more appropriate terms to describe the situation.

Iraq does need to be rebuilt, and this will indeed require billions upon billions of dollars. But Bush and his administration do not appear to have a plan for how to use this money, nor do they appear to be reaching out in any meaningful way for help in developing a strategy for how to stabilize Iraq and ultimately pull out American forces. In an indication of how little some members of Congress want to hear about possible improvements, the GOP blocked a Senate debate over Iraq on Monday as though they would rather plug their ears and sing until people stop discussing the subject.

What happened to Bush's pledge in his State of the Union Address for bi-partisan cooperation and discussion, and why are his supporters in Congress preventing potential discussions from happening? It's time for this administration to drop the conflict they have hijacked, turn around and begin asking themselves and the world for help in finding a solution before any more blood is spilled in Iraq.