A nuclear Middle East just around the corner

I know that in some corners of Washington there is a growing acceptance of a nuclear Iran. I can't comprehend that, but for those who are willing to accept a nuclear Iran, I hope you can accept every unstable dictator in the region also having nukes:

Gamal Mubarak, the son of Egypt's president, proposed Tuesday that his country pursue nuclear energy, drawing strong applause from the nation’s political elite, while raising expectations that Mr. Mubarak is being positioned to replace his father as president.
[..]
Simply raising the topic of Egypt’s nuclear ambitions at a time of heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear activity was received as a calculated effort to raise the younger Mr. Mubarak’s profile and to build public support through a show of defiance toward Washington, political analysts and foreign affairs experts said.

This is not about energy. It is about power-internal power. Even a dictatorship has to fear becoming too unpopular amongst the natives. What better way to appeal to the egos of your citizens than making yourself a nuclear power? Nationalism can be a good thing, but it has its ugly side. We are starting to see its ugly side play out in the Middle East. Leaders are trying to hold onto power in the midst of a regional democracy by manipulating nationalism, and we've see this before in the lifetimes of our grandparents and parents. A nuclear Iran and nuclear energy will make for convenient covers, but that isn't what this is all about.