WikiLeaked diplomatic cables showed that nuclear Iran is the Arab world's worst nightmare

The WikiLeaks release of some 250,000 diplomatic cables - including about 15,000 classified as "secret" - could imperil America's vital alliances, deepen rifts with competitors and endanger lives. But there's already been one salutary consequence:

The cables make clear that Iran's Arab neighbors are just as afraid of Iran's drive to acquire nuclear weapons as the U.S. and Israel are. Why, they have practically begged the U.S. to stop Tehran through military action.

In one cable, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia repeatedly urges the American government to "cut off the head of the snake" - presumably, either President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's highest religious authority.

In others, Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed says of Iran: "They have to be dealt with before they do something tragic." And he delivers this stunningly blunt pronouncement: "Ahmadinejad is Hitler."

The assistant to Egypt's defense minister is quoted as saying his country "views Iran as a threat to the region."

Ali Abdullah Saleh, president of Yemen, says Iran must be barred from obtaining nukes because Tehran "wants to restore the Persian Empire."

The man who would later become Lebanon's prime minister, Saad Hariri, tells American officials that they "must be willing to go all the way if need be" to stop Iran's nuclear program.

Thanks to Ahmadinejad's calls for wiping Israel off the map, the world has viewed him primarily as a threat to the Jewish state - which, of course, he is. But the dangers he poses have always been much deeper.

Iran aspires to dominate the region with the muscle of nuclear weapons and alliances with terrorist bands like Hezbollah and Hamas. Ahmadinejad is arming both while, to cite just one facet of his ambition, overtly maneuvering to become the ultimate power in Lebanon.

The U.S. has led a long, hard push to isolate Iran politically and economically. American, European and UN sanctions are finally in place and appear to be having some impact.

Of late, there have also been reports out of Iran that a computer virus, perhaps devised by Israel, had damaged Tehran's nuclear processing centrifuges. And, just yesterday, someone fatally bombed one top Iranian nuclear scientist and wounded a second.

More must be done.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia are none too keen on letting a nuclear-armed madman become the rallying figure for radical Islamist forces that could consume them. In that sense, they share a common enemy with Israel.

Yet they have been loath to talk about it, preferring instead to privately prod the U.S. into striking. Now, the world knows better - and the world is better off for it.