Congress voted to rid Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction that did not exist. Will it now act to block an agreement that verifiably limits Iran’s all-too-real nuclear capabilities for a decade or more? Nothing would diminish U.S. global leadership, destabilize the Middle East, further exhaust American military forces and weaken the U.S. Treasury more than this one-two punch.

A “nay” vote by Republicans against the Iran deal can have grave consequences even if they cannot override a presidential veto. Division, mostly along party lines, is never cost-free on national security issues. Countries hedge against American leadership even when U.S. foreign policies have a broad base of domestic support. They hedge more when domestic divisions convey that U.S. policies are not sustainable. Nuclear proliferation can be managed with this agreement; that becomes much harder if it unravels.

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