'History repeats itself: a Middle Eastern country launches its own nuclear program. The international community suspects it is a cover for building atomic weapons. The United States calls for the country's nuclear sites to be inspected. Another government urges the country to scrap its nuclear plans. It is answered by defiant boasts that the nation's sovereignty will not be compromised.
The country in question is not Iran in 2006, but Israel in 1969. The current dispute over Iran's nuclear program has shocking parallels with the tensions sparked off by Israel's attempts to acquire the nuclear bomb in the 60s. The only major difference is that the U.S. decided at the time not to curb the Israeli nuclear program. Recently declassified documents reveal that the Nixon administration reached a secret understanding with the Israelis in 1969 that allowed them to pursue their nuclear program as long as they maintain a policy of deliberate ambiguity.'
