Tom Wilkerson, former Bush official and chief of staff to Colin Powell during the the lead-up to our invasion of Iraq, was asked in an interview about the obstacles to a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear program.

He said that the biggest obstacle was Benjamin Netanyahu and his "extreme right-wing" government.   Then:

And then you come to this country and you find Netanyahu's allies in people like Senator John McCain, Senator Lindsey Graham -- from my home state -- and others, who are bordering on being traitors in my view, because they won't let this president have room to achieve a diplomatic solution. They're all angry now that he didn't bomb Syria. . . . And so they're moving on to Iran.

Though he served in a Republican administration, Wilkerson has been a critic of the Bush administration and the war hawks in the Republican party.

But he's right, in my opinion.   We've done enough of invading and bombing in that part of the world.   It only makes their people hate the United States.   Obama is capable of nuance and patience necessary for diplomacy.    He also used sanctions and threats of air strikes, the former with Iran, the latter with Syria.   A good balance.

So far, signs are good that this just might work.

Ralph