The Bush administration may be losing control of the Pentagon.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, who was in Israel over the weekend, issued a strong warning today about the dangers of a military attack on Iran.

At a Pentagon press conference, Mullen was asked, "How concerned are you ... that Israel may undertake a unilateral strike against Iran by the end of the year?"

"My strong preference, here, is to handle all of this diplomatically with the other powers of governments, ours and many others, as opposed to any kind of strike occurring," he answered. "This is a very unstable part of the world. And I don't need it to be more unstable."

Mullen refused to talk specifically about what was said in his talks with the Israelis, but he made it clear wants to avoid military confrontation.

I wrote a number of months ago that there was a split in the Pentagon, with one side backing Bush's desire to bomb the hell out of Iran and the other (which apparently includes Condoleezza Rice) vehemently opposing that idea.

I had lost track of how that debate was going and the recent murmuring about special ops having soldiers in Iran causing all kinds of shit, I thought we may be back on track to attack them soon.

So hearing this story kind of makes me feel a little better. If Admiral Mullen is willing to say this out loud and on record maybe the pendulum has swung away from any possibility of our starting yet a third war.

Besides the whole debate may be moot now anyhow.