Looks like it isn’t just the Democrats who have a problem with Bush’s Middle East approach:

Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), a 26-year Senate Republican, said he will visit Syria despite loud objections by the Bush administration, contending the situation in Iraq is so dire that it is time Congress step up to the plate and see what it can do.

Specter, R-Pa., said in an interview late Friday that he is planning a trip to the Middle East that will include Israel and Syria. The senator said he and other Republicans are concerned that the administration’s policies in the Middle East are not working and that other GOP members may follow in his footsteps.

“I’ve talked to my Republican colleagues, and there is a disquiet here,” Specter said.

There is a very simple concept here that the administration just seems to not be able to come to grips with. No nation wants a broken state on their border. This includes Syria and Iran. They do not want to share a border with a broken Iraq. This provides severe security issues for them. Why did Iran help us with intelligence when it came to Afghanistan?