WASHINGTON - When war ends in Iraq, the Bush administration will give ``extremely high priority'' to halting a secret nuclear-weapons program in neighboring Iran, a senior administration official said Monday.

John Bolton, the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, joined national security adviser Condoleezza Rice in warning that the White House sees nuclear-weapons programs in Iran and North Korea as imminent threats.

``The estimate we have of how close the Iranians are to production of nuclear weapons grows closer each day,'' said Bolton, a leading hawk within the administration.

Both Bolton and Rice, in separate speeches to the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, suggested that the Bush administration views the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq as an initial response to a series of threats. However, neither of them suggested that Washington is pondering military action elsewhere.



(San Jose Mercury-News)

Am I totally in left field to worry that it might be just a little indiscreet to put Iraq's neighbor, Iran, on notice that it's next?

Is it out of the question to worry that Iran might apply the Bush Doctrine of "preventative war"? And might, in fact, judge that it will never have a better chance than now, while US troops are occupied fighting Iraq? Later, after the war in Iraq is over, our troops will occupy a (relatively) secure position along almost the entire west flank of Iran. Might they notice and decide to join Iraq (in the spirit of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend") now, instead of waiting to be in an even worse strategic position later?

Am I in any way out of line to wonder "What the hell are they thinking?"

Enquiring minds want to know.

--Robert