“We have not ruled out other options with respect to Iraq,” Secretary of State Colin Powell testified yesterday. “We still believe strongly in regime change in Iraq and we look forward to the day when a democratic, representative government at peace with its neighbors leads Iraq to rejoin the family of nations.”

President Bush used equally grave words yesterday, saying “I’ll keep all options open if they [Iraq] don’t make the choice” to stop supporting terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction.

Key allies like Saudi Arabia and Turkey have warned the U.S. not to set its military sights on Iraq. So what is the meaning of all these threats? Are we on our way to Round 2 of the Gulf War? Or is the U.S. just bluffing in order to get Saddam to comply with American wishes?

Guests:

Michael O’Hanlon, Senior fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution and coauthor of “Defending America: The Case for Limited National Missile Defense”

Rend Rahim Francke, Director of the Iraq Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental group working to bring about democracy, and improve human rights in Iraq