IPTABLES Command slows down the machine

Hi all, I have a nice IPTABLES Script which i start upon booting the server (/etc/init.d/boot.local). One of the first commands is this line: IPTABLES="/usr/sbin/iptables" If if run the script without this command, none of the rules are active. If i boot my server with the above command enabled however, the KDE login takes so much longer time and any application I start takes long to open too. The rules are working fine, and it seems that firewall-functions are being handled in a timely fashion (i have tested it while having my sniffer observe..) PS: I am a newbie to Linux and IPTABLES, please beare with me. Cheers Knut Erik