US embassy cables: Verdict on the leaks about the Middle East

The Guardian- What do the cables released by WikiLeaks tell us about diplomacy and US foreign policy in the Middle East?

...If the US is wise, it will avoid being stampeded into yet another ruinous Middle Eastern war based on exaggerated fears about alleged weapons programs. Israel already has a nuclear arsenal, which is what is fuelling the current arms race in the region, and if Arab states don't care enough about Tel Aviv's nuclear weapons to seek atomic bombs themselves, it is hard to see how Iran's civilian research program could induce them to do so.

Despite the breathless headlines they generated, the yield of the documents is actually thin.

...To demonise Iran, the US has for eight years promoted the myth of an Iranian nuclear weapons programme, much as it demonised Iraq through its false charges about weapons of mass destruction. And while this myth has formed the basis for four sets of UN sanctions against Iran, the US has never provided the first shred of proof and its "evidence" of Iran's nuclear weapons studies has now been shown to be simply a fabrication.

No, the principal threat to Iran remains the United States, which for years, prodded by nuclear-armed Israel, has declared that "all options are on the table." Read more