Good grief, Michael, America is a great power, not a Boy Scout. As I have repeatedly said, just because the US is talking to the Iranian regime, it doesn't mean that it has to suspend anything else it might be trying. Is that dishonest? Sure. But so what? Everyone lies. That's what diplomats are there for.

As to what to do, fair question, but I don't really know. My best, and very woolly, suggestion is constant, steady, calm, unhysterical pressure (of which talks can be a part), but I could not be more pessimistic about the outcome at the moment. As for the more hard-line alternatives, effective sanctions are pie-in-the-sky, a 'clinical strike' will be anything but, and a full-on invasion (even if you could find the resources for it) would be a catastrophe. I suspect that, thanks to the lack of any realistic alternatives, we will in the end drift into some sort of containment strategy. The only question is whether it will be Truman-Kennan type containment or something far more feeble and poorly thought-through. Given the dreadful global political climate and the administration's cack-handed treatment of potential allies, the latter seems more likely, unfortunately.

What would you do?