The Persian state frequently threatens other countries and generally defies international convention and the rule of law. But Iran's covert operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; its recent military and political victories through its proxy army, Hezbollah (in Lebanon) and its beneficiary, Hamas (in the Palestinian territories); a newly signed defense pact with its terrorist-supporting ally, Syria; and its unstated nuclear ambitions, may be forcing the West's hand.

On Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda that "influential nations should get ready for a world minus the U.S."

Not surprising: Ahmadinejad has threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." And his surrogate deputy commanders, like Hezbollah's secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, frequently call for the "deaths" of both America and Israel.

On Friday, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz said in interview for the Yediot Ahronot newspaper:

"If Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective. … Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable."

Mofaz, a tough, former Israeli Defense Force chief and Defense minister, also said Ahmadinejad "would disappear before Israel does."

The U.S. responded quickly: White House spokesman Dana Perino reiterated the U.S. commitment to multilateral diplomacy as a means of addressing the Iran nuclear problem, but added that all options (including military action) would remain on the table.

There has since been increasing speculation as to if, when, and how Israel or the United States might launch a pre-emptive attack – most likely in the form of airstrikes – against Iranian nuclear facilities.

The answer to the question of "if" is somewhere between possible and probable, and moving closer toward the latter. The answer to "when" is anybody's guess.

Then there is "how" an attack might play out: If there are strikes, they will probably mirror Israel's 1981 air attack on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad, or last September's airstrikes – coordinated with ground-based commandos – against Syrian facilities (allegedly built with North Korean assistance) in northeastern Syria about 100 miles from the Iraqi border.

Both attacks were successful. However, problems associated with going after the Iranian nuke sites would be that the targetable facilities are multiple. They are spread out from one another. And they are constructed deep below ground in heavily reinforced, bunker-like complexes. Consequently, as Mofaz says, any Israeli strike would need the operational support of the U.S., suggesting either indirect support (as in reconnaissance and surveillance) or direct support (warplanes and Naval combat assets).

If there is an attack on Iran, experts say it is doubtful any American involvement would be in the form of direct action. Asked if President George W. Bush might commit to launching some sort of pre-emptive strike against Iranian facilities before leaving office in 2009, former deputy undersecretary of defense (and current Human Events editor) Jed Babbin tells me:

"My best guess is that he will not. First, there's no public support for it, nor support among members of Congress. Second, the highest-ranking people in the administration – including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates – are dead set against it. Third, the intel on their [Iran's] program is horribly incomplete; even compared to the stuff on pre-war Iraq. In short, it ain't gonna happen in this administration."

A source inside the U.S. intelligence community says, "I don't think he [Bush] has the guts anymore. The Israelis on the other hand? …[hesitation] But I can't talk about it."

Sources also are telling me that "exchanges" and ongoing dialogue over the previous year between a senior Israeli strategist (currently in the United States) and U.S. military officials "have intensified in recent weeks."

Meanwhile, Iran continues its blustering, its threats, and its attempts to subvert efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog) to determine how close Iran is to developing a nuclear weapon. Iran claims its nuclear development is only for peaceful, energy producing aims. But Iran's president still contends his nation will wipe Israel and America off the face of the earth. And Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps continues to devise more creative methods of killing and maiming American soldiers in Iraq and, we now know, Afghanistan.

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W. Thomas Smith Jr. is a military analyst, columnist, and a former U.S. Marine infantryman and counterterrorism instructor. He has covered conflict in the Balkans, on the West Bank, in Iraq, and Lebanon. Visit him online at http://www.uswriter.com.