American Forces Press Service, Washington, November 7, 2008( excerpts) -“Instability in the Middle East is front and center on the list of concerns”, the Joint Chiefs of Staff confronts, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said yesterday.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the National Security Conference of the American Bar Association that the arc of instability stretches from Lebanon to Pakistan.

Iran is a problem in the region, Mullen said, as the country continues to work toward nuclear weapons capability.

“I believe this will continue to destabilize that part of the world,” he said, noting his belief that the Iranian move could spark a regional nuclear arms race.

Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and is at the center of the region’s terrorism network, the chairman said. Iran sponsors and supplies Hezbollah and Hamas, two terror groups active in Lebanon and Gaza. The groups also work in Syria, he said, and all can be traced to active support from the theocracy in Tehran.

The United States has between 70 and 80 percent of the military forces available focused on that area, Mullen told the group.