The Djinn emerges

And it isn't pretty.

Richard Fernandez touches on another massive failure of this administration that is not being talked about in the media, but which will now almost certainly readjust the terms on which we deal with the Middle East and their wild jihadis.

You may have heard that the Saudis, dismayed by Obama's incompetence in dealing with their ancestral enemies the Persians, have now very clearly cut their ties with us and are seeking what they must: a deterrent to the now imminent and likely unstoppable Iranian bomb.  Their response is strangely similar to that expressed by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Now, the BBC reports that the Saudis have nuclear weapons "on order" with the Pakistanis.  

  "Saudi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects, and believes it could obtain atomic bombs at will, a variety of sources have told BBC Newsnight.

While the Kingdoms quest has often been set in the context of countering Iran’s atomic programme, it is now possible that the Saudis might be able to deploy

such devices more quickly than the Islamic republic.

Earlier this year, a senior Nato decision maker told me that he had seen intelligence reporting that nuclear weapons made in Pakistan on behalf of Saudi Arabia are now sitting ready for delivery. "

Further, according to the Guardian, 

   "The Saudis also fear Iran’s nuclear ambitions – King Abdullah famously urged the US to “cut off the head of the snake” – and have repeatedly signalled that they will acquire nuclear weapons if Iran does. They blame Tehran – though without much evidence – for encouraging Shia opposition to the Sunni monarchy in neighbouring Bahrain. Shias in the kingdom’s eastern provinces face state repression and Saudi clerics have used inflammatory sectarian language over Syria, especially Assad’s Alawite community….

In private conversations senior Saudis are scathing about President Obama’s preference for inspections and disarmament over military action … US support for moderate Islamists is another source of resentment. The Saudis were furious at Obama’s (belated) abandonment of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and subsequent embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi. …

Yet alarm is palpable elsewhere in the Gulf. “GCC leaders must wake up to the looming danger,” warned the influential Emirati businessman Khalaf al-Habtoor. “The countdown has started; the US/Iranian plan is about to be implemented. A serious plan of action is urgently required. GCC states are strong enough to stand alone both economically and militarily and should not permit foreign powers to make decisions for them.”

As Richard soundly notes:

  "The plain meaning of any Saudi acquisition of nukes would be to nullify, as trivial and irrelevant, president Obama’s signature campaign to disarm Syria of chemical weapons. Moreover, it will signal that nuclear nonproliferation is dead or dying. The nuclear armament of Iran has as predicted, set off an arms race that will resonate around the world. How long until and Japan, Korea or Germany get their own arms? "

So the Djinn is loose in the Middle East, and very likely everywhere else as well.
While the Saudis and the Iranians can nuke each other until they use up all their little bombs, it is all too possible one or two might make in to New York or San Francisco.  Smart Power has reached it's inevitable conclusion.

Note also the high quality comments in Richard's article.