This must have been the most controversial sentence in the entire NIE:
We assess Lebanese Hizbullah, which has conducted anti-US attacks outside the United States in the past, may be more likely to consider attacking the Homeland over the next three years if it perceives the United States as posing a direct threat to the group or to Iran.
Hezbollah blew up the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, murdering 241 Americans, but hasn’t pulled off an attack on the U.S. since. It’s significant that the NIE says it won’t attack the U.S. absent a sense of provocation, particularly over Iran. You can imagine the row that must have caused within the intelligence community.
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