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 5 ~0 Z7 t8 }4 f+ y. p
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
6 _8 v" m7 z- s' |+ pthe merits. + Z7 J: }" M5 Z- n6 e; y
By David Boies
# w% m' V- u% d, [( K% A+ dMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET ! v4 ]9 D9 L8 J( @9 [
' l( E" V$ T* _2 OEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that # ~2 i" R/ @1 F& z1 N7 M
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
- O8 o: A/ D9 e. L2 ^* p7 ]7 _; vEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against 1 B& s& v8 D# a; P$ [* H
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president ( |% z8 D8 V7 G
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
" h; d" M" \* i$ ]$ I$ Jaddress. / x4 g# X1 D4 v1 Y1 U+ i
# A9 x7 A. h {' jLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
* |4 ` w: p$ dIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
' X0 o1 d5 ?/ F* Jnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence ; u, f$ a3 K f2 ~
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. # }/ J. S. P5 n0 n; x" _9 p* h
Trump began the current military campaign.
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% c* X/ B* F; A" m7 k% [If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous . j0 a/ F2 J y' `0 W
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 0 J( Z- N* R* Q: m
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York / v5 r: u/ V A) q$ Q- |) L, X9 V
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
9 s) S! d3 d' [( I1 g! Ctreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action 6 ~3 y! X5 Q3 u' M8 m9 k' G
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
6 y2 c! ^7 s" l' W7 y4 ~“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons ) B7 @5 A0 v5 ~* N6 y
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how ) V `# n' ?- S
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been( j& U; P4 `2 e9 v9 r# O) `) b
to permit them to increase further. " k2 M: q( y' p0 \" O
( a( Y+ J$ H& iFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
( ` w( K% R! Z# O) m2 {* y& mtried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
: A+ P' Q2 q( D; h. b w( D7 ^sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
# w/ q9 P1 I- x/ [0 yunderstand. " E2 o6 @ E B) |' P2 b2 a$ k% n
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
( x; ?+ s) t# L; z2 @Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
7 ]7 }3 W6 y7 e1 Hfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because R( z3 H, O! _5 ?# C8 O5 K
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One k" t1 }: W. _! @) S* j" i
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or - D5 r+ X$ f, \( B
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
: f# A2 ]; X( g/ D# u Rto devastate a city. ! `# E+ `+ W0 D7 u
4 {2 q& E+ W! x. U0 U8 HI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel % Y7 j$ J1 k: w9 V4 d2 X+ h
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. ) [! [( t% C) U( p$ d' e/ x
/ `& d n! p; {+ \, {/ ~
What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition s" {0 _' U% Z8 {: ~
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops 4 p v J0 m; B4 W
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
& S% ^$ U# |( P8 Qpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice Y7 a/ K' K- k @
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
) \# p7 L# h3 L; `. ahistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. $ K p' `! \+ v
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
* _6 F/ v- ~. C% R3 G) p% dmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many * ]5 y, g: N! w% j; A2 w, |2 J6 h+ b; }
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in , C1 T7 z* T; a( c+ [: y
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
+ n9 R9 E1 Y- ?( XAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
3 z# w/ Y9 y% ysupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. % p1 R! |; M* j' |4 t; u2 s
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
/ m ?, E, t5 e3 b6 i+ b0 u- j; zalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 1 l' t1 E! i2 x1 m3 k7 H; N% U$ [/ [
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
' z& y% _% @( W! E# ieven if it means a loss for America.
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5 T( ^" C* b. P# B' U1 M* [: gWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It / m( p. m* B2 Z8 g+ }4 b4 ?
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was * [0 o- \& C' ?
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
, |8 H: [+ S" G# l$ \was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
- e' F' @1 ~2 r, e" Zpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. : h$ d% E/ j( d( C
R- v; v2 ?( ]7 k) nTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to " f6 E+ m5 {" r2 I
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
$ M- i% C2 l5 \& Zresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
0 Y1 m- v+ e4 @, X1 C+ b8 y0 qRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and 1 U' A$ R! n% D. v
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those & y: Z6 w' P, U$ c' u: b' P, x g
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
3 Q; Y) k0 A; J% t# ^support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
; u6 E K) T6 x5 [# ~7 p% powe 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
`/ A3 U$ N$ l2 \' `, ]mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
' j/ q3 r5 h: ~, @generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse . K* h! L+ ~! p
for it.
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, r$ E) o; F( _) e; h" I1 B' pAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
7 W4 S7 [# f9 ]! y6 {6 Z) s$ nDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action 5 @, b# R" ]- W" i, `
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but 7 M+ \6 `* P' o& ?' L
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
5 C; {& P) i8 D3 Treturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
; [) t6 X& L8 C4 a% R! S* @; |) ?7 fand not merely obstruct.
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- h( @! x3 l/ Z1 u8 hIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on % j$ Q3 R9 f( v# ]4 M( o! R
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or % F. c. p0 j8 i% W
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we $ a0 c# N6 T: i+ c. W9 e w
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not ( A' f ?! O8 x- N9 [ O
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 9 A6 F8 C ?0 a) \/ I% Q* m
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
0 f0 I. J. b# J+ Y& uDemocrat 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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