WASHINGTON, D.C.- After seeing the success of Jerry Bruckheimer's Oklahoma City and World Trade Center projects, Bush decided the time had come to reprise the classic action-adventure project his father had made famous. Yet the question remains: why make a sequel? Bush told Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart that he has a very good reason to make a second film, but for reasons of national security it must remain secret.

As for exactly what will happen in this version, the writers still haven't figure that part out yet. According to sources inside Pentagon Productions, the project's financial backers are reportedly demanding more details on how the enormous budget will be spent. All of this has lead some to believe that the producers of Gulf War II may not have a clear plan on how to proceed.

A defensive George W. Bush dismissed the concerns as namby-pamby negativism. "Plan? You'll know the plan when we start shooting"

Tom Daschle, one of the most outspoken investors, told reporters that he would not be so worried if Bush would partner with a small number of other production companies.

After agreeing to seek partnerships, Bush apparently gave the idea only a half-hearted effort, taking a few meetings with executives from low-level firms and later saying that he would go it alone if necessary.

"I'm determined to do this one way or another," Bush told a group of investors last week. "I'm not going to let anyone compromise my vision."

Coincidentally, it may be his lack of 'vision' that is at issue here. The basic ideas of the project seem to change from day to day, from person to person. The ending, for example, has been a sticking point from word one. Will Gulf War II be about terrorism or revenge? The project's producers can't seem to decide. Associate Producer Colin Powell told the Daily Variety one thing on Monday and Director Donald Rumsfeld completely contradicted him less than 24 hours later.

Some in the Bush team want a long-running television series about a nation-building exercise in Iraq [Mash meets The West Wing], but the bean counters say it would be far too expensive and research shows that public interest in such a venture just isn't there.

According to an editorial in Friday's Hollywood Reporter, viewers should not be surprised by the slipshod sequel. "As soon as Hussein crawled out from under the ruins of his Baghdad palace in the first film's last shot, The Gulf War had sequelitis written all over it."

Industry cynics say they would not be surprised if Hussein survived the second film in order to leave the lucrative franchise open to further use. Expect to see a third installment ready before the busy fall movie season of 2004.

In the meantime, Bush continues to deny rumors of a second D-Day invasion.

At press time Bush was unavailable for further comment, busy location scouting in Normandy.