MICHELE NORRIS, Host:

Today President Bush dismissed reports that his administration is planning for an attack on Iran. At the Johns Hopkins School for Advance International Studies in Washington D.C., Mr. Bush spoke of his doctrine of prevention.

GEORGE W: I know, I know we're here in Washington, you know, prevention means force. It doesn't mean force necessarily. In this case, it means diplomacy. And by the way, I read the articles in the newspapers this weekend, there was just wild speculation, by the way. What you're reading is wild speculation, which is kind of a, you know, happens quite frequently here in the nation's capital.

NORRIS: NPR's Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr has been listening and reading about the situation with Iran. And he's not surprised by what's being said.

DANIEL SCHORR: Today, however, the president sought to reassure the public that he was not gearing up for another war. He said that prevention does not necessarily mean force. In this case, it means diplomacy, he said. Mr. Bush dismissed war talk as wild speculation, although much of Hersh's article is attributed to current and former American military and intelligence officials. Which leaves the administration in a position of telling Americans not to worry, and telling Iran time to worry. This is Daniel Schorr. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.