TA的每日心情 | 擦汗 2026-3-17 22:01 |
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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America % a% T$ R5 A' O' n- e
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
+ B6 d4 e: r: c. C7 _the merits.
+ |- _+ b4 v9 @/ `1 N8 Y5 H* bBy David Boies
- u" C8 L/ j% M nMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET ) R9 q% Y3 W, L
" ^. c! e! m+ w( iEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that * w8 q0 O- a8 Q3 A
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
# K+ I0 T& _1 V1 o5 V6 @% X2 iEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against ( y3 y% ^" X J; f9 Q' }
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
0 f% o, ]5 C( {" z7 G2 ~left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to & t+ G6 Y2 y+ F0 \* Z* O/ s d; a
address. : J; |: x+ r/ [* ]
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt ) ~# i" q& @7 e, M1 {: m7 I
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 5 c) T" c* O9 u8 K$ u/ H8 n
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
, x- U) T* K9 o) kthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
7 z; U9 Y9 c0 b1 {7 e" WTrump began the current military campaign.
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
4 B9 _4 e/ V& |; _$ b) j: jchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles ( J4 X8 k/ z, C# f
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
& W1 ~* r" {% Y5 y+ X, nor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. ! ]! B- t" E, ] }& [/ e) ^
X+ ]7 Q# E" P. y- m9 @No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste - M( ~5 `7 V' L) ^8 u% H
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action ) b% V5 i+ f9 I% A4 b& E
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? ) X$ R1 [' c, b+ X* \& N1 q& ^; S
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
: I: n3 d: ]; [) N- w+ H: X; N“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons * M8 j' f/ R' Y# A
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how $ Z# [' J C$ l( v% I8 f
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been; Q$ h. \1 I" {% ~) _' t( @2 ]
to permit them to increase further. 9 {- l5 G% A8 b6 ]" Q
7 _% _" w; ^2 G: mFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
n+ U6 O: o; ?9 t! f. n' ?tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
. T! T/ S2 A3 l( ~, msanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders ! H, Y, L6 T0 L3 c8 ~' g
understand. + v1 z( ]* p. y( o' ?
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the ) G, E: X! q2 H
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
1 z/ H' _' |* p" y1 K) @fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because 9 O5 J& I2 O( g: @: t+ H
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
, H# d, V* l4 F1 s6 Lhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or ! F3 o% a5 h& Y9 ?1 e
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
! ^# n& j4 |; X+ p" K bto devastate a city. 0 e. }0 m% L; k D& @. u! D
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel 4 L7 B7 f* o( K8 E% u( P
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition ) G( M+ O( A) t& L
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops : R4 m' Q+ M! U
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
8 s! n- K" b$ t& l5 | D1 F5 zpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
* d. ^% N. ~% [3 |- JPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 4 x! D4 Q& P3 _. i% F' x
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
/ Y' x) M" I+ h2 r e" Pmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 5 ]! M9 a# E) c% S. d4 J
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in , a1 M W1 A W R; c) l) f2 {
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in * w) N3 M& x g
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably . f4 h+ m- r8 E
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. % u' z( m4 ~- d _
4 ^ [, u& Z6 u& X3 n- a- p: g d) lMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
, Q3 F0 d& p$ Salmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the * `: y K* }! Q% E8 D
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
! Z4 i2 }3 H2 p* peven if it means a loss for America.
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It * C1 p6 ]: U& m; g0 o. }: j5 A6 U7 m. D
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was , R- t8 ~( C; F+ c+ J! c
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
' Y! s l% _6 o: H+ Z* F& `2 }was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
+ G( x; S. @4 a7 O4 A6 F- x2 Ypopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. ( F: v2 H8 z) n1 ]. c( g
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to ! q+ ~5 d3 j) ]$ L& Q0 B+ S7 L1 Z: X
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
[' G9 e+ b2 `+ c# n* o: l! Sresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. : b/ t* R; ?; L$ b* r. F
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and ) Z* W# t0 K; @: P3 H* e
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those ' S$ Z) ]7 I+ r( c' \
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
$ q) u* ~- [0 @2 G$ p% vsupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
6 ^# B( `. X k, ~. Q9 kowe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the v0 h8 f/ z! ]5 d+ L1 ~; U+ i p
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
a! w2 `" O6 Q0 \( Rgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
8 m6 w/ n9 Y G# R9 X1 kfor it. , n- Q4 }' V5 [! c# d
7 ~# i4 \$ k5 }8 u3 o. c _America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We # `; l. V/ O0 _
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
/ J: q: u X5 r( \6 A1 ?4 v# Hhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but , Y: V4 w7 C- b; M$ u
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
! `# q8 A% @* p1 _1 Greturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
7 K% I+ Z/ K6 B K; @and not merely obstruct.
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- c4 N3 I% g9 v, L0 V* UIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
3 ?! h/ p3 U- @$ E4 H8 K$ F F- wthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or ( I) ?1 w8 }, N
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
2 w2 R2 f; e2 h( B4 k5 F4 Bwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not ' S4 J( B2 v+ m2 g
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they ' l' G) W- d! M
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
2 E Z, d7 N* @" A1 QDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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