Critics of the Iran deal are actually disappointed with the limits of U.S. power

Obama’s Republican critics have reflexively called him weak and aloof when it comes to the Middle East. But the truth is that Obama’s foreign policy mistakes in that region were mostly the result of promiscuous and ill-conceived intervention. Obama’s administration extended and exacerbated a civil war in Syria, but never found a side it was capable of supporting in victory. It knocked over a regime in Libya, and that nation is now a playground for terrorists.

JCPOA does not give American hard-liners what they want: an Iran that is forbidden from pursuing nuclear weapons indefinitely. But it forestalls what they most fear, Iran developing nuclear weapons while it is fully isolated from the West.

The disappointment with the deal is really a disappointment with the weakened position of the United States and the limits of its power. The U.S. is already stretched across the region: It is engaging ISIS, dealing with the partial or full disintegration of at least three states (Libya, Syria, and Iraq), and keeping the lid on a war in Yemen sponsored by our ally Saudi Arabia. Keeping up pressure on Iran also means keeping the Russians and Chinese engaged on the Middle East, rather than dealing with issues in East Asia or Eastern Europe.