Action: Urge U.S. and Iran to Stop Playing Chicken

We hope that President George Bush's trip to the Middle East this week will result in new steps toward peace. But the initial reports are not encouraging.

Ignoring the conclusions of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies, the White House spent the two weeks before the president's trip portraying the visit as an opportunity to put more pressure on Iran and work to further isolate the government in Tehran. Not surprisingly in this atmosphere of tension, a confrontation between U.S. Navy ships and Iranian government speedboats nearly erupted into a shooting war earlier this week.