It's almost as though they aren't negotiating in good faith

Larison serves the neocons up on a platter:

When Obama wanted to exercise restrainty and say little, many neocons demanded that he say more and say it more forcefully. Once he does that, they will demand sanctions. Once he proposes sanctions, they will demand covert action to topple the regime. Should he actually authorize covert action, they will call for bombings. This is how it works: if Obama adopts anything resembling a hawkish approach, they will praise the hawkishness but always demand escalation. Short of war with Iran, which is where the isolationist policy Reihan is proposing ultimately leads, I doubt there is anything Obama could do that would be deemed sufficient by most neoconservatives.

Larison understands, of course, that neoconservatism is almost completely uninterested in the actual welfare of foreigners. The neocons, frankly, are vile. And I've pretty much lost any respect I ever had for Reihan Salam, who has always shown severe signs of hackishness (e.g. his ridiculous Palin boosterism), but has basically become a slightly less offensive version of Krauthammer during the Iran crisis. If he and Ross Douthat are supposed to be the future of the GOP, they're in for another New Deal-like spell in the wilderness.