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 6 x5 W# g& O& [0 R4 _
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on $ x8 O" Z# {6 J/ n! T; G- r, Z
the merits. 4 w0 V9 q% V& S* @ g
By David Boies
, c7 }! @7 b# o8 r4 fMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET . m7 x$ V! f6 z
% n* C* f! }6 |- @% i' F% j( b- p" }Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 2 Q) z. N( l" F! r9 l0 J+ E
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
" I5 d5 Y4 N) ]Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
6 `8 f6 |5 l. J* X# D7 l' PAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president " c: {$ M3 W$ S. X, d
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
" G& A1 ]* B. G8 Laddress.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt . |" T% C+ }: R/ Q! w+ _% G4 O
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
) D1 ?( d3 b6 E$ p7 }3 ]( znuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
9 o, E& E T1 [0 m0 t* I3 P: dthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. + x W5 g" y( Q6 q% l
Trump 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 1 M) K7 A7 f& q+ D9 P0 x
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 0 L2 g2 E- a9 _+ d
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York ; S6 N) K* C2 Y& w' c. K, u) J/ l
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 8 M- y) ~; o3 m) h' L. ?: ?! Z) r
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
: p, X$ _$ F! m/ x; Sseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? . j0 S0 R7 A/ u' d5 e( A+ R1 s
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear - A2 y$ j1 p/ r1 `* F2 l
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
' h; c$ }5 h; land the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how 6 h# b4 ?) x+ `; }% g. w6 h( |# f
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been) U! h9 i6 L! _" b
to permit them to increase further.
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) v# K$ h- e. K9 O8 w- Q G1 a+ fFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
6 g7 G0 G5 N2 [$ c8 N7 ^5 }# @5 k) ptried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
/ b; M3 O0 @6 ?! f7 ]5 c% ?sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
: M# z4 ?4 | H( O5 wunderstand. . G' T! Q6 _3 G
8 x9 Z* N( _1 R3 L1 m5 l: l/ c8 @/ zI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 1 K- K. D* {9 f# @, Y8 Q+ r: l
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 6 t+ R7 _5 {! J' i
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
4 h( _; a2 c! S& d0 U! K! Uthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
& x6 n+ H7 J- [3 Phundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
- _0 c$ J1 }' Y1 ddirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
% P" L1 D0 W! d0 {to devastate a city.
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel ( p$ l% E! `' z8 B( c
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. ; q! P- S) \6 K4 I9 |( a- Q* q
, W3 H& K G4 M" q2 [' d- w% }What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
# j6 r# [9 C+ r1 ~' Frooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops + y8 d" e% Q; u6 X. x9 x0 c1 W
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 9 D7 W; P6 f$ I4 h9 ~- u* x1 c
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
! q# X5 ^( s8 S' lPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 8 M8 Z% r4 I5 A8 q4 z0 D
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. " z- J8 l8 F9 v8 y' S8 d
% q/ o5 O( h% p0 c+ B$ NMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
t0 W: s; l/ k1 kmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
% J( o8 U6 w6 T: I' \8 \Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
+ _7 Z J* C' zAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in # Z. }8 S* d4 _0 ^. z$ [- W/ u0 U
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
: i* g0 S8 [! G5 {( j( s( Xsupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 9 [1 y5 L! J3 X' `8 s2 K
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we 6 i3 B# ^- R2 t
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
+ i4 `: d2 h }3 c' Cpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
6 g" e) ^! l' c0 H# a, b( Ieven 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 ! f; e& F8 t1 Y2 c* Y5 o
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
3 L/ ?* |' J; c9 Y- p0 L+ Qelected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman $ M* v; M H8 Y" s8 w
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the : G+ S9 b# _3 e" L+ O8 e
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. . N% U8 f2 o6 k1 E- V. H, b
5 u% r" G9 i' w) `4 ?Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
3 P; G5 p9 m5 s0 X- tcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the " h0 t* a5 G8 |: k3 O+ h) Y+ o
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
+ I$ k% }1 ] S' l% a0 `8 {Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
2 h9 @, b! ^1 ~+ ^! A( jextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those ) ]6 ^+ u4 o9 K$ L4 d" A) k1 T8 `$ c5 b
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to & S+ d" l: }& T
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
2 b2 h+ D' c, S) S9 Wowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. , K0 O% y" [) G$ _0 }8 _/ w( W
& w! ?0 X" Q$ V! NIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the 6 J5 @4 E. R d* d
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we ; M( b U/ g$ t! H6 Q* Z
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
7 @2 Y$ j$ }8 ]! r1 {for it.
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) b+ T. Y$ I2 Z4 AAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We 0 u: P+ D8 ~" F" y9 p5 H
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
: M# u6 X. ?" r: Ghad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
+ i% X& Y/ v) d5 c1 p) C3 Qmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
! B& B, s) p. s: m4 Creturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
4 _: e9 q) ?1 F* e: Xand not merely obstruct. $ R/ E" h k! A8 C9 i- W# i! {0 v0 d
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
# C" w- I- j$ qthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
$ c* o4 G6 _! p8 u- ?6 Xadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
4 \' O& ~7 D* B5 V& O4 }want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not ( F# {' N1 ]' Q% w0 g: B
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
5 g; k h4 h$ t) j; u4 {: dwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
8 } q5 Z( P/ c' J, w. qDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 7 g4 K8 W ]( `- K5 ?' A& W
) X) ]7 L9 }" p8 K4 M* k/ k7 jMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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