It is, of course, just such strategic dilemmas that could prompt Bush to go nuclear. Now various conspiracy-oriented websites like AlJazeera.com (not to be confused AlJazeera.net, website of the far more legitimate Qatar-based cable network) and GlobalResearch are citing recent claims in the American Conservative by Philip Giraldi, "a former CIA Officer" and partner in Cannistraro Associates, that the Pentagon is preparing to use tactical nuclear weapons against Iran. He also claims that the assault will come in reponse to a new terrorist atttack in the US. Writes Giraldi in his "Deep Background" column in the American Conservative:

In Washington it is hardly a secret that the same people in and around the administration who brought you Iraq are preparing to do the same for Iran. The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing—that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack—but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections.

One glimmer of hope here is that AlJazeera.com refers to Iran's new president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as "former Taliban mayor". Um, we think you mean "former Tehran mayor," guys. Ever hear of proof-reading? Let's hope the rest of this content is no more accurate...