On: Iran war: US wary of peace plan postponing nuclear deal

Things that are tiresome: a negotiation that begins with a threat. A proposal that offers to cease what should never have begun. The Strait of Hormuz, choked.

Things that are hateful: a peace plan that is not peace. The mention of “nuclear deal” when the matter at hand is the free passage of ships. As if one could trade the sun for a pebble. The very idea that such a thing could be considered a “plan” makes my ink curdle.

The White House, “not ruling out” such a thing. As if indecision were a virtue, a delicate embroidery. It is a torn sleeve, nothing more. A blockade, then a lifting of it, as if the world were a child’s game of give and take. Where is the elegance in this? Where is the clarity?

A true agreement, like a perfectly folded letter, should reveal its purpose at once. Not this tangle of threats and concessions, like a badly woven cloth. One must speak of what is right, not merely what is expedient. The sea should be open. The air should be clear. These are not matters for bargaining, but for simple understanding. To suggest otherwise is to mistake the moon for a lantern.