TEHRAN, Iran -- It wasn't the news of the raid by the U.S. Army against the Iranian interests section in the northern Iraqi town of Arbil that set off the alarm bells. Nor the announcement by Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that "twice in the past two or three weeks . . . we've captured Iranians," followed by former Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk threatening "serious consequences" as a result of Bush's new strategy of escalation against Iran. The announcement that a second aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. John C. Stennis, would be moving into the Persian Gulf as a show of force against Iran -- the first time that two U.S. carrier battle groups have entered the Gulf since 2003 -- is significant but could be explained away as further saber-rattling by the Bush Administration.
Iranians Wary as U.S. Shows Signs of Escalation
