Dubya Plays Texas Hold 'em

The Telegraph has a story that is meant for Irani President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's ears.His precious nuclear weapons program may be targeted by American tactical nukes.

"The Bush administration is planning to use nuclear weapons against Iran, to prevent it acquiring its own atomic warheads, claims an investigative writer with high-level Pentagon and intelligence contacts. "

"President George W Bush is said to be so alarmed by the threat of Iran's hard-line leader, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, that privately he refers to him as "the new Hitler", says Seymour Hersh,"

Isn't it nice when people take you at your word? They had better be sweet because you never know when you must prepare to eat 'em.

"The conviction that Mr Ahmedinejad would attack Israel or US forces in the Middle East, if Iran obtains atomic weapons, is what drives American planning for the destruction of Teheran's nuclear programme."

Ahmedinejad's in the driver's seat taking Iran down the Confrontation With The World's Only HyperPower Highway. Next exit, the Stone Age.

"Hersh claims that one of the plans, presented to the White House by the Pentagon, entails the use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, against underground nuclear sites. One alleged target is Iran's main centrifuge plant, at Natanz, 200 miles south of Teheran."

That's not close enough.

"Iran has been developing a series of bunkers and facilities to provide hidden command centres for its leaders and to protect its nuclear infrastructure. The lack of reliable intelligence about these subterranean facilities, is fuelling pressure for tactical nuclear weapons to be included in the strike plans as the only guaranteed means to destroy all the sites simultaneously."

You can play slap, tickle, hide the nuclear pickle as long as you want. If you got the sites, we've got the nukes. The only uncertainty is, who's bluffing?

Despite America's public commitment to diplomacy, there is a growing belief in Washington that the only solution to the crisis is regime change. A senior Pentagon consultant said that Mr Bush believes that he must do "what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do," and "that saving Iran is going to be his legacy".

Sounds like things are going to get real interesting pretty soon.