Paul Pillar  The Nuclear Iran Promotion Act  Sometimes our
political leaders act so contrary to their declared purposes,
even in the face of repeated explanations and clear reasoning as
to why what they are doing is counterproductive, that we have to
move beyond the oft-ignored reasoning, squarely address the
motives and politics involved, and think about how the leaders
in question can be shamed if not coaxed into doing their jobs
more responsibly. We have such an occasion with the passage in
the House of Representatives on Wednesday, by a vote of 400 to
20, of H.R. 850, the “Nuclear Iran Prevention Act,” which among
other pressures would endeavor to end what is left of Iran's oil
exports by coercing remaining customers to cease their
purchases.  The promoters of the legislation say they are acting
in the name of precluding an Iranian nuclear weapon. In fact
they are acting in the opposite direction, by significantly
damaging the prospects of negotiating a nuclear agreement with
Iran—an agreement that would