Those whom the gods will destroy they first make mad. Critics of Barack Obama’s Iran deal have been giving a good impression of having lost the plot. An Israeli cabinet minister described it as “one of the darkest days in world history”. Republicans liken Mr Obama to Neville Chamberlain. All agree that a deal that removes about two-thirds of Iran’s nuclear capability and freezes the rest will somehow hasten the day it has the bomb. In the next two months, before Capitol Hill votes on it, we will hear a lot more such bombast. It comes down to whether Congress believes Iran is capable of acting rationally or whether it is a uniquely malevolent country that has outfoxed America and its partners in the negotiating chamber.
上帝欲使其滅亡，必先使其瘋狂。美國總統巴拉克?奧巴馬(Barack Obama)與伊朗核協議的批評者給人一種喪失理智的強烈感覺。以色列一位內閣部長稱其為“世界歷史上最黑暗的日子之一”。共和黨人則將奧巴馬比作內維爾?張伯倫（Neville Chamberlain，二戰前對納粹德國實行綏靖政策的英國首相——譯者注）。所有人都認為，一個消除伊朗大約三分之二的核能力、凍結其他核設施的協議，將以某種方式加快伊朗擁有核武器的那一天來臨。在美國國會就該協議投票之前的未來兩個月里，我們還會聽到大量此類的夸大言辭。這歸根到底要看國會是否相信伊朗能夠理智行事，抑或伊朗是一個與眾不同的邪惡國家，在談判室里智勝了美國及其伙伴。