I don't know exactly who threatened first, but I do know the radical Muslims have a strong history of murder throughout history and through most nations of the world today. I do not want anyone to attack Iran, but...if they get nuclear weapons they have made it clear they will use them. I want to protect myself and this nation against their clear declaration of our destruction. If the United States or Israel could go in and bomb the nuclear facilities and any supporting facilities with minimal or preferably no casualties, then I would be supportive of that. Because in the long run, many, many lives would be saved.

But it wasn’t Iran that turned the Israeli-Iranian cold war warm – it was Israel. In October 1992, prior to Iran’s material support for Palestinian rejectionists, the Shimon Peres/Yitzhak Rabin government undertook a major campaign to depict Iran and Shi’a Islamic fundamentalism as a global threat.

Even though Iran was weak militarily after the devastating war with Iraq, Rabin told Israel’s Knesset (parliament) in 1993 that Israel’s “struggle against murderous Islamic terror” was “meant to awaken the world which is lying in slumber” of the dangers of Shi’a fundamentalism. “Death is at our doorstep”, Rabin said of Iran – though he only five years earlier dismissed Iran’s rhetoric as inconsequential.

The Israeli reversal on Iran was partially motivated by the fear that its strategic importance would diminish significantly in the post-cold war middle east if the then president (1989-97) Hashemi Rafsanjani’s outreach to the Bush Sr administration was successful. Also, the geopolitical map of the middle east had changed. Israel no longer needed Iran to balance Iraq and the Arabs – rather, Iran was now a potentially powerful regional player who could become a threat. And according to Israel’s military doctrine, potential threats are to be treated as existing threats.

CIA Director Michael Hayden sparks controversy by holding covert meetings with top Lebanese officials in a secret visit to the country.

Michael Hayden arrived in Beirut on Thursday in a visit that gained little but controversial media attention.

Hayden arrived in the Lebanese capital for talks with top Lebanese officials on security cooperation against regional and international terror, reported As-Safir daily, a local media outlet.

"Over the past few years prominent security officials, including the heads of Interpol and FBI, have visited the country on propaganda trips meant to enhance cooperation in security matters," claims Elnashra.com, a local website.

"Hayden's trip, however, does not fall under the security and intelligence category," it continues.

"According to informed sources Hayden's trip to the region is aimed at gathering the most possible amount of intelligence in the least possible amount of time, as most foreign intelligence services have an established presence in the county," the website adds.

"Lebanon's geographic position between Syria and Israel is an important factor as the US seeks to defend the security of Israel at any cost."