But Turkey's leader, Tansu Ciller, has deliberately kept the issue inflamed with belligerent rhetoric, complicating life for Mr. Simitis and would-be Turkish moderates.

The White House has so far been careful to avoid belligerent rhetoric over Iran, fearing it will sound reminiscent of the Bush administration's threats ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

He has claimed that the North Korean nuclear program is justified by belligerent American rhetoric.

Iran's recent belligerent rhetoric over the Strait of Hormuz is not the only sign that the situation is growing ever more serious.

The ban was first imposed by President Carter in response to the belligerent rhetoric and human rights abuses of Latin American military regimes.

It may seem like a distant memory in today's context of more belligerent rhetoric, but Venezuela had plans to double its oil production to seven million barrels a day before Mr. Chávez was elected president in 1998.

For those unswayed by the administration's belligerent rhetoric, Mr. Blair stepped forth with a mellifluous moral summons to action.

He resented, in particular, the colonel's belligerent rhetoric, such as "mad dog Reagan."

But whatever his personal inclinations, Mr. Zhu is part of a Chinese leadership that suppresses peaceful political expression and worries some of its neighbors with its belligerent rhetoric and provocative military activities.

He had a series of disputes with the Commissioner of Taxes, in which despite his belligerent rhetoric, he invariably came out the loser.