Fallon has also denied he quit over disagreements with Bush over Iran [AFP]

Speculation has been growing since the US military commander in charge of Middle East operations resigned on Tuesday.
 
The White House denied reports that Admiral William Fallon was quitting because of differences with Bush over Iran.
 
A recent article in Esquire magazine said Fallon was opposed to the US using force against Iran over its nuclear programme.
 
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said Fallon had asked for permission to retire early because reports on the issue meant he felt he could no longer be effective.

He dismissed as "ridiculous" speculation that the resignation signalled a step towards war.
 
Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said also dismissed the idea that military action against Iran was any closer.
 
"There's no one in the administration that is suggesting anything other than a diplomatic approach to Iran." she said on Wednesday.
 
But she also reiterated a long-standing refusal by the US president - who last year warned that a nuclear-armed Iran could mean "World War Three" - to rule out military action.
 
Perino also denied Bush was intolerant of opinions opposed to his own.
 
"That is absolutely nonsense because President Bush has always fostered an environment of robust and healthy debate," she said.
 
While some consider it unlikely that Bush, as a "lame duck" president with only 10 months left to his term, would undertake such a major military action as an attack on Iran, there is precedent from Bush's own father.

In December 1992, after the former president had already lost his re-election battle to Bill Clinton, George Bush sent thousands of US troops to invade Somalia on a peacekeeping mission.

The US has moved warships to the Lebanon coast, including a missile destroyer [AFP]

And just days before leaving office, the former president ordered a strike on Baghdad with 40 cruise missiles striking targets linked to Iraqi weapons development, an example of how the US president can order military action at any time.
 
Over the past year, Bush and Dick Cheney, the vice-president, have ratcheted up the rhetoric against Iran, which says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
 
Fallon said on Tuesday he did not disagree with the Bush administration over Iran, but that press reports had made it difficult to do his job effectively.
 
Democratic criticism
 
Fallon made a surprise visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Wednesday after denying other reports he had clashed with General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, over military strategy there.

"Admiral Fallon is a true warrior who has served our country selflessly and honourably for more than 40 years," Petraeus said in statement read by Major-General Kevin Bergner in Baghdad.
 
But Bush's Democratic critics have seized on Fallon's departure as another sign that the Bush administration refuses to tolerate military officers who speak their minds.
 
Harry Reid, the US senate majority leader, called it "yet another example that independence and the frank, open airing of experts' views are not welcomed in this administration".
 
Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, described Fallon as a "voice of reason in an administration which has used inflammatory rhetoric against Iran", and urged the White House to pursue diplomacy with Tehran instead of conflict.
 
"Admiral Fallon's resignation should not be used as an excuse to ratchet up tensions with Iran," the New York senator said in a statement.

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