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Certainly for an Administration to violate even the spirit of U.S. laws, including laws that it rigorously enforces on others, is a serious matter. But it is far from the only bad consequence of the misadventure in Iran. U.S. officials were obviously justified in meeting secretly with Iranians willing to re-establish contact. Given Iran's geopolitical importance, it would have been irresponsible of the Americans not to do so. In diplomacy, especially in the Middle East, a country sometimes has to talk one way and act another. But to connive at arms sales to Iran, for whatever reason, seems clearly to have been a blunder that undermined U.S. credibility. It is hard to understand how the U.S. could have gained anything by strengthening Iran militarily. To permit arms sales that even appeared to be a payoff for the release of hostages was even worse, since seeming to reward terrorists is dangerous indeed. And by failing to foresee that its maneuvers could not be kept secret, and then being so plainly stuck for any effective way to explain those maneuvers publicly, the Administration has called into question its competence as well as its credibility.