AND SO IT BEGINS - AT 7:25 P.M. ET:  Weakness in foreign policy always has consequences.  From the Jerusalem Post:

With the world seemingly unable to stop Iran's nuclear march, other countries in the region are now pushing forward with their own plans to build nuclear power plants.

The Saudi newspaper Al-Watan reported on Thursday that the Saudi minister of water and electricity, Abdullah al-Hosain, said the kingdom was working on plans for its first nuclear power plant. The US inked civil nuclear power deals with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates last year...

...Over the last two years, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, the UAE, Yemen, Morocco, Libya, Jordan and Egypt have all indicated an interest in developing nuclear programs, with Israeli officials saying, off the record, that if these countries did not want the programs now for their military capabilities, they wanted the technology in place to keep "other options open" if Iran were to develop a bomb.

COMMENT:  One of the great fears, if Iran isn't stopped, is a Middle East nuclear arms race, just what the world needs.  The Obamans have been very casual about the Iranian nuclear program, although the president says that if Iran doesn't respond positively to American overtures by September, he'll seek further action.  Right.  About as effective as all the other action.

By the way, Iran today did open some of its nuclear labs to more extensive international inspection.  There was big fanfare over the announcement.  However, it seems to be one of those small gestures to ward off criticism.  I wouldn't be shocked if Iran accepted some form of negotiations with the United States in order to run out the clock and get what it wants from its nuclear research.  I also wouldn't be shocked if we went right along with it.

August 20, 2009