FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU, FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME – AT 11:01 A.M. ET:  Is there no end to the dishonesty and arrogance of this administration?

In the last few weeks the Obamans have been on a charm offensive, similar to the Soviet charm offensives of old, to convince the great majority of Americans who are pro-Israel that there really are no serious problems in our relationship with that nation, our only real ally in the Mideast.  Now comes this:

Washington and Cairo are negotiating an agreement which would see the Middle East become a nuclear-free zone, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

According to the report, which comes two days ahead of a UN-hosted conference to prevent nuclear proliferation, the agreement is aimed at making the treatment of nuclear weapons in the Middle East more balanced.

The US has been criticized in the past for expressing concern over the suspected nuclear ambitions of countries such as Syria and Iran with nary a mention of Israel's reported nuclear arsenal.

The Wall Street Journal quoted senior Obama administration officials as saying that the US officials would meet with their Egyptian counterparts in New York in efforts to promote the idea of a nuke-free Middle East which would encompass Arab countries as well as Israel, Iran and Turkey.

"We've made a proposal to them that goes beyond what the US has been willing to do before," one official reportedly said. Others added that progress would have to be made on the Israeli-Palestinian track before such an agreement could be made.

COMMENT:  Fascinating, isn't it?  We're negotiating with Egypt, and leaving Israel out of it.  What a friend we are!  How loyal!  Even in the midst of a charm offensive, the Obama leftists can't control their hostility to democratic allies.

The whole idea of a nuclear-free zone is a joke, but it will have surface appeal to the chattering classes.  Can you imagine Israel, or any other rational state, trusting Iran or Syria to live up to an agreement to ban nuclear weapons?

The only countries that can be helped by this will be those two, Iran and Syria.  They'll sign some vague non-proliferation agreement – after all, Iran has already pledged that its nuke program is only about powering hair dryers – and then go about developing nuclear weapons.  Meanwhile, Israel will be expected to open itself to full inspection.  If Israel refuses, as it must, it will be sanctioned, and a second Obama administration, with nothing to lose politically, will go along.

We never thought Obama would get so bad so fast.  But we underestimated him.

May 1, 2010