"We believe that all of these nations -- Syria, Iran, others -- should realize that pursuing weapons of mass destruction, supporting terrorist activities, is not in their interest," Powell told The Los Angeles Times in an interview.

"That doesn't mean that war is coming to them, it just means that the world is changing," he added.

The conciliatory note came hours after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Syria of helping the remnants of the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein who, according to US officials, are fleeing Baghdad and trying to find refuge in the neighboring nation.

"We find it notably unhelpful," Rumsfeld said Wednesday.

Last month, Rumsfeld charged that Damascus was secretly shipping night vision goggles and other military equipment to Iraq and that Iranian-backed Iraqi rebels had been seen crossing the border into Iraq.

Powell said the two countries have to realize there are "consequences to this kind of behavior."

"But it doesn't mean that the only consequence the American president can think of is to reach in the tool box for the military," said the secretary of state. "We have many ways of dealing with the challenges that we face."

SPACE.WIRE