A Short Way of Expressing Skeptics' View of the Iran Deal

So why do Republicans oppose the deal with Iran?  Do they actually think that Iran is just about ready to give us everything we want if we just hold out a little longer?  Or do the really want a war? In some cases, probably.  But for many (as I have said before), whether Iran gets a nuclear weapon is entirely a secondary concern.  The most important thing is to express unyielding opposition to them. Put differently, here are the four possibilities, ranking in hawks' order of preference:

	Iran does not get nukes	Iran does get nukes
Maximum confrontation with Iran	Preferred outcome	Acceptable outcome
Cutting a deal with Iran	Unacceptable outcome	Worst possible outcome

Of course, they would rather Iran not get nuclear weapons than get them, but better to express unyielding opposition and have Iran get nuclear weapons anyhow than to cut a deal, even if it works. And cutting a deal and having it not work is the worst possible outcome.

By contrast, proponents of the deal see keeping Iran from getting nuclear weapons as the top priority and confrontation versus negotiations as merely a means to an end.  Their preferences are as follows:

	Iran does not get nukes	Iran does get nukes
Maximum confrontation with Iran	Acceptable outcome	Unacceptable outcome
Cutting a deal with Iran	Preferred outcome	Unacceptable outcome

So, yes, they would probably rather keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons by a deal than by confrontation.  But if Iran does get a nuclear weapon, then it makes little difference whether it was negotiations or confrontation that failed -- failure is failure.