IN TEACHING, IT’S CALLED “DOING A FADE” when you step back and let the students deal with a problem mostly on their own. This story from the New York Times had me thinking of that in connection with Iran:

The leaders of France and Germany said Thursday that Iran remained a danger and that other nations needed to keep up the pressure over its nuclear program despite a United States intelligence report’s conclusion that Tehran was no longer building a bomb.

Speaking at a joint news conference at the Élysée Palace, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel said they had not changed their minds despite the findings of the American intelligence estimate released Monday, which some believed would have eroded support for tougher new sanctions.

I don’t believe that the Administration, or the “intelligence community,” is smart enough to be doing this on purpose, but it may have the same effect. And now that France and Germany are led by non-idiots, it may even work out.