Since the Republican takeover of the senate Obama has been very combative. I have no problem with that. His strategy seem to be:`winning every battle we can at all costs.' I have no problem with that with internal matters. This may work in some cases.
For international diplomacy this is like playing with fire.
The most successful ever strategy with Iran was that of containment, initiated by Obama. I personally advocated for it on these pages 6 years ago, and it worked (not because of me, I presume... :-)). Of course this is the containment policy that worked against the Soviets and turned Eastern Europe to our side - but it did have the 'trust but verify' phase.
But Obama is too much in a hurry to have a legacy - and that's dangerous. He agreed to way-too-fast lifting of the sanctions, and now, when Iran leaders are putting on the pressure, he has to play the retraction game.
As in internal affairs, the strategy seemed to be: push it quick and hard so that the opposition can't build veto override. What if he succeeds with the Iran deal?
It is evident that changing of course too quickly on Iran, has already resulted in a rush to an all-out war between Iran proxies and Saudi proxies in the Middle East that fear that Iran is taking advantage of Obama's fast track. I am afraid an even more dangerous game is played in the Ukraine.
I believe it is time to use our congress as an excuse for some back paddling, instead of playing with fire.