I’ve written a fair amount about the Republicans who back military action against Syria in order to preserve the option of–and strengthen precedent for–a war with Iran.

So heads must be exploding now that Obama has not only eschewed (for the time being) military action against Assad but is at the United Nations urging an internationally sanctioned effort to bring Syria to heel and also a new peace initiative with Iran. Obama may even meet–publicly or privately–new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani–late today.

United Nations–negotiations–diplomacy–peace–these are all terrible words for some Americans who lust for another Mideast War, and/or think the whole idea of collective security is at odds with American exceptionalism. So don’t expect them to follow Obama from war to diplomacy on either the Syrian or the Iranian front.

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Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.