Editorial: Is that the drumbeat of war? Yet another one?

Bush steps up his warrior rhetoric, and the target is Iran. Will Congress stop him?

The Sacramento Bee

"President Bush has upped the ante rhetorically about Iran. In recent speeches, the president has said that Iran's pursuit of nuclear technology threatens to put the Middle East "under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust." Rockets manufactured in Iran, Bush has said, "have been provided to Iraqi extremist groups by Iranian agents," though he stops short of blaming the Iranian government. He has said outright that the United States will confront Iran "before it's too late."

Americans have heard such rhetoric before -- aimed against the Iraqi regime in the lead-up to the 2002 Iraq invasion. Such exaggerated rhetoric and bravado have serious consequences, undermining U.S. credibility and limiting options in dealing with critical issues regarding Iran......

But it's no secret that the circle around Vice President Dick Cheney favors military action. The Sunday Times in London has reported that the Pentagon has drawn up plans for airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate Iranian military capability within three days. And with the pending release of a book by Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute, "The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction," that calls for "regime change" in Iran, a drumbeat for hitting Iran is under way.....

The Bush administration believes it has inherent authority to launch unilateral military operations against Iran -- even in the absence of a direct attack or a compelling, immediate threat to the United States -- without the consent of the Congress. As a top priority, Congress needs to pass the Webb Amendment (S. 759), which would prohibit the use of funds for military operations in Iran without the consent of Congress.

The American people are weary of the war in Iraq and distrustful of the leaders who got us into it. In those circumstances, you would think that another war would be the last thing on the president's mind. But Congress shouldn't make that assumption. With this White House, anything's possible."