If this BBC report is to believed, the answer is “yes.”

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 kingdom’s 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.

Last month Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, told a conference in Sweden that if Iran got the bomb, “the Saudis will not wait one month. They already paid for the bomb, they will go to Pakistan and bring what they need to bring.”

That ought to cool things down in the Middle East, no?

We’ve seen reports of the Saudi’s displeasure with the current administration’s dealings with Iran.  In fact, there have been reports that the Saudi’s are contemplating a “major change” in relations with the US.  They plan to distance themselves from the US.  To say they have little respect for or fear of the current administration would be an understatement.

And, of course Israel is going to really welcome this development, about like one welcomes news that they have a fatal disease.

Assuming this is true, it definitely ratchets up tensions in a region in which they already run very high.  The Saudi’s want Iran’s nuclear weapons program stopped.   They have no confidence in the US’s ability to make that happen.  Consequently, they’ve decided that, at a minimum, deterrence in the form of having their own nukes, is better than depending on an undependable ally.

Yessiree, we’re much better off with this administration at the helm of our foreign policy than the last – aren’t we?

~McQ