You: This is why Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al have been at pains to stress that we are in a new era in which pre-emption is mandatory. They are not kidding around. This is the world we live in, post-9/11. Better get used to it.
Undoubtedly true. And it's why I think we'll see severe preemptive action, not merely behind-the-scenes covert activity aimed at "regime change." Our reaction needs to be obvious to the entire world. It's not just a matter of defusing this particular threat; we need to demonstrate unequivocally to anybody else who's thinking of doing something similar that it would be very dangerous for them even to take preliminary steps in that direction -- because we will stop them preemptively.