Those nuclear facilities in Iran

Press Secretary Dana Perino was asked today about a rumor percolating below the surface in Washington, speculation that President Bush, just before he leaves office, will turn out the lights on Iran's nuclear facilities. The further subtext: If the White House won't end Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nuclear program, the Israelis will.

Friday, the New York Times reported that Israel had conducted exercises -- with more than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 jets -- in what U.S. officials said looked like a dress rehearsal. Sunday the Israeli newspaper Maariv called the story a Pentagon leak designed "to deter Iran and increase pressure on it to cooperate" with international nuclear watchdogs.

Back at the White House, Perino said speculation was being fueled more by the news media than any evidence.

"And what I can tell you is that President Bush believes that we can solve this issue diplomatically, and that everyone's preference is to solve it diplomatically," she said, "not just here in the United States but with our allies and certainly with Israel."

-- Johanna Neuman

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