Bush Iran Attack Blocked by Rice and Gates, For Now...

Army Radio quoted a top official in Jerusalem claiming that a senior member in the entourage of President Bush, who visited Israel last week, said in a closed meeting here that Bush and VP Dick Cheney were of the opinion that military action against Iran was called for.

The official went on to say that, for the time being, "the hesitancy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice" was preventing the Bush Administration from deciding to launch such an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Army Radio report, which resonated widely, stated that according to assessments in Israel, the recent turmoil in Lebanon, where Hizbullah has established de facto control of the country, was advancing an American attack.

Bush, the official said, considered Hizbullah's show of strength evidence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's growing influence. In Bush's view, the official said, "the disease must be treated - not its symptoms."

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Days later, in his address to the Knesset, Bush said that "the president of Iran dreams of returning the Middle East to the Middle Ages" and "America stands with you (Israel) in firmly opposing Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions."

"Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon," Bush said.