Pentagon official says pre-emptive hits possible

WASHINGTON -- Pre-emptive strikes by the United States could be on the horizon as the United States fights terrorism, the Pentagon's No. 2 official said Tuesday.

"We've already lost enough Americans. We're not going to lose any more by hesitating," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told a group of defense contractors.

Wolfowitz did not offer any details of where or when such a strike could happen, and he did not answer questions during an appearance at a conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Pentagon officials have repeatedly said that no decision has been made on when or where the next U.S. action will be. Speculation in recent days has focused on Iraq, which President Bush named as part of an "axis of evil" with North Korea and Iran last month.

Wolfowitz is widely viewed as a strong voice within the administration to favor military attacks aimed at toppling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Wolfowitz said he was worried that Americans were beginning to act as if the threat from terrorism is over. Dozens of al-Qaida fighters remain alive within Afghanistan, although the military campaign there has severely disrupted the group, Wolfowitz said.

"The success is only interim success. There is still a great deal of work to be done," Wolfowitz told the conference. "I do fear the country has not absorbed that the conflict is far from over."

Pentagon strategy in Afghanistan relied on the fact that the Taliban rulers that sheltered al-Qaida terrorists were unpopular among Afghans, Wolfowitz said.