Yet another foreign policy fail for the Most Equal Comrade

Saudi Arabia gives the MEC a double dose of humiliation:

First, King Salman of Saudi Arabia embarrassed the Obama administration when he backed out of the summit after the White House announced he was going to attend.

The last-minute move was widely perceived as a deliberate snub, and the Saudis offered only a vague excuse for King Salman's absence.

Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz attended the talks in Salman's place.

Obama then incorrectly introduced the deputy crown prince and misnamed the founder of the kingdom.

Then came today's big news: The New York Times reported that Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries intend to match Iran's nuclear capacity if the US reaches a deal that allows some aspects of the country's nuclear program, including uranium enrichment and ballistic missiles research, to continue.

One unnamed Arab leader who is participating in the talks told the Times that Sunni Arab countries "can't sit back and be nowhere as Iran [a Shiite regime] is allowed to retain much of its capability and amass its research."

David Rothkopf, CEO and editor of the group that publishes Foreign Policy magazine, weighed in on the implications of this, saying that Saudi Arabia's expression of intent to match Iran's nuclear development is a bigger blow to Obama's summit than King Salman's absence.

Every observer of the Middle East worth taking seriously has said for years that a bad deal with Iran would spark an arms race in the region.  Still, our overlords push on in their mad quest.