“He might never have snapped if some classroom disciplinary measure between taking it and going postal existed.”

The analogy in international relations is that there is nothing between the equivalent of sending a note to the assistant principal of student relations (a UN resolution) and whacking a scumbag with a dumbell (turning Iran into glass).

Which is why there is at least a 30% chance that a vain weak individual like Obama will be remembered in history as the US President who pushed the big red button.