Is King Abdullah II a latter day President Diem?

I was watching an incredible documentary "The Vietnam War" last night. It's not my first time but it never fails to rivet, shock and infuriate.

At one point, the narrator says:

"Diem became widely popular because he seemed to embody the nationalist cause in the South. On October 26, 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem named himself the first President of the brand new Republic of Vietnam."

Leslie Gelb, the late foreign policy expert, then comments:

"He became our ally, or rather our master. Because the goal of preventing the Communists from taking over the South was so strong that we couldn't afford for him to lose. So Diem started to boss us around. And this was a typical relationship. You need any ally you believe to be the centerpiece of your foreign policy, they understand that right away. And the tail wags the dog.'"

Gelb also said:

"Everyone understood that in and of itself. Vietnam didn’t mean very much. But they believed, I believed, if we lost it, that the rest of Asia would tumble to communism."

The parallel between that fatally flawed presumption and the one that has entrenched itself in US leaders regarding Jordan and King Abdullah II and the thwarted extradition of Ahlam Tamimi is obvious. 

We have heard ad nauseum that Jordan's ruler is the linchpin of Middle Eastern stability and absolutely, positively must be bolstered. Nothing, not even a straightforward demand for justice, may be permitted to endanger his hold on power.

When you think about it, aren't we now seeing a Jordanian tail wagging the American dog?