Creating a crisis to look like heroes, who would do that?

Here's an interesting little take on Iran's release of 15 British hostages. It claims Ahmadinejad created a crisis, and surrendered to look like a benevolent peacekeeper.



A good point, though the analysis misses something...Let's see...
Who else started a crisis/war under false pretenses in order to look like a savior of international security?

Any ideas?