This photo released by the Iranian Defense Ministry, shows Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as he speaks during a ceremony inaugurating the Karrar drone aircraft, at Malek-e Ashtar University on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010. Ahmadinejad Sunday spoke about the country's first domestically-built, long-range, unmanned bomber aircraft, calling it an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies.Vahid Reza Alaei
As the United States prepares to end its combat missions in Iraq next week, another Middle East hotspot is showing ominous signs of flaring up.
D.C. is abuzz with speculation that Israel, convinced Iran is poised to launch a nuclear attack, is plotting a pre-emptive strike without the blessing of the U.S. - a theory fuelled by a cover story in The Atlantic magazine entitled "The Point of No Return," which has itself sparked a war of words in the American capital and beyond about what Israel might realistically have in store.
"The Jews had no power to stop Hitler from annihilating us," an anonymous Israeli official tells Jeffrey Goldberg, who wrote the Atlantic article.
"Today, six million Jews live in Israel, and someone is threatening them with annihilation. But now we have the power to stop them."
The source adds of the decision facing hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to him by his popular nickname: "Bibi knows that this is the choice."
The talk has been intensified by news that Iran is flexing its military muscle with great fanfare as a fresh wave of international sanctions against the country kick in.
On Monday, Iranian state media reported that the country's Revolutionary Guard Corps inaugurated production lines for two high-speed vessels that will be armed with missiles and torpedoes.
A day earlier, Iran also unveiled an unmanned drone bomber, dubbed the "Ambassador of Death" by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, even though it's had military drones for years.
"The jet, as well as being an ambassador of death for the enemies of humanity, has a main message of peace and friendship," Mr. Ahmadinejad said at the inauguration of the bomber on Sunday.
The goal of the four-metre-long aircraft is to "keep the enemy paralyzed in its bases," he said, adding that the jet is for deterrence and defensive purposes.
Most Western military observers dismissed the unveilings as laughable exercises in sabre-rattling, but Mr. Goldberg's article cites sources close to Mr. Netanyahu as saying Israel regards threats from Iran with deadly seriousness, and is planning a strike against the country within the year.
The article prompted the White House to convey a message to Israel, via the New York Times, pointing out that Iran's nuclear program has significantly slowed down. It would take at least a year, the Obama administration said, for the country to be in a position to develop a nuclear bomb, and continuing sanctions against the country may further impede Iran.
"The story had so much traction that it forced the White House to effectively issue a smackdown to Netanyahu," said M.J. Rosenberg, a senior foreign policy expert at the Media Matters Action Network in Washington.
"The goal of the piece was clearly to influence public opinion and to serve as a warning to Iran, but in the end, the article didn't advance the idea of Israel attacking Iran, but retarded it."
Mr. Goldberg's stories have come under attack before, most notably a piece he wrote in the New Yorker in 2002 that linked Saddam Hussein to al Qaida. In the wake of his Atlantic piece, columnists at news outlets that include the New York Times and Time magazine have either eviscerated Mr. Goldberg or defended him as a top-notch journalist.
Mr. Rosenberg described Mr. Goldberg, who served in the Israeli army and is said to be close to Mr. Netanyahu, as "more of an Israeli strategist than a journalist."
"His goal was to get the idea out there so Americans move towards accepting it as something that might happen, and to send a signal to Iran," he said. "He's on the Israeli team."
Nonetheless, that didn't stop the story from making waves in the corridors of power in D.C.
"Well, you know, every country, including Israel, will act in its own self-interest and to defend itself," State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley said Monday when asked about the notion of Iraq attacking Israel against the wishes of the U.S.
"We're trying to put pressure on Iran to clarify its nuclear programs and to be a more constructive player in the region. But hedging against that, we have for a number of years worked closely with Israel and other countries in the region (to) build up their defensive capabilities to offset Iran's growing influence."
Mr. Rosenberg said he doubts Israel will wage war against Iran any time soon.
"It's no more imminent today than it was six months ago, and in fact it might be less imminent, because sanctions seem to be working," he said.
Indeed, Mr. Ahmadinejad has said Iran is ready for talks over his country's nuclear program. He made mention of a nuclear swap agreement in which Iran would give up its nuclear enrichment capacity in exchange for a steady supply of nuclear fuel - impossible to use for making weapons - for its research reactor.
Most observers have said a strike by Americans or Israelis against Iran would likely spark a wave of chaos in the Middle East and sound the death knell for Mr. Obama's attempts to build new relationships with the region's Muslim communities.
It would also likely destroy any move toward Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and put Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, avidly pro-Israeli, in a difficult position.