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 j/ ?/ U- m: |$ c- f
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on 7 `9 r% h9 |% G! t* E/ ~
the merits. ; J! L5 @5 D% V4 _" V J# `% h: T
By David Boies # ]: r5 {7 J3 w$ T! V. B) V
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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/ f _5 }1 c+ ~; ]3 ^/ ~Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that + J+ R; C0 A3 s5 H" J X
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. 5 z7 T$ |& d# P% i1 Z1 |4 e
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
, K! @( s7 X- d) B6 i3 _American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
6 ~2 X2 t$ [; t) F5 _) ]left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to ( A" q) N% y& {' M) H
address. ; ~& Z# ~3 s7 A
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
4 W6 _7 q% k IIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its ; D. n% |. \& A- P) A- ]
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 7 w3 t4 H% W8 t: G. [5 K
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. . u5 K4 y( h7 ?! W6 v* c$ L
Trump began the current military campaign. * Z: s& C, h ^& _9 G# I: p$ [
) L3 y2 c9 {0 i+ C9 \ r& OIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous `2 G( `, t, |; S2 G( k
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles ) z3 ~) e) y8 j- W% J6 g, z6 E
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
" {4 ~% Q) b/ E$ {) Wor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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, K$ c% t2 p! K/ x1 { y. X9 GNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
4 | z$ | `* v# w0 I7 @7 ftreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
y% X+ M0 _' y) G9 V! b1 |seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? D1 s! `. k3 r
3 y9 G& M3 f( n7 ?( TObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear ) `) K& B$ w1 Q! f" T) y7 _5 t; c
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons % I& V! y7 [) j! W ^) y' f: |" q
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
% g' j; ]8 Q2 R, M1 b( ^+ Lmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been* |+ |5 D* t \/ g0 S
to permit them to increase further. + Q4 U% ^: n4 W' J6 n& a$ i
8 T+ n2 V+ i! Y) tFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
) g& V+ ~( h0 k+ L rtried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
" S4 q+ e& \9 zsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
( N/ r- J0 i4 g2 A punderstand.
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. V; r6 t' W* n0 D/ KI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
; o% }1 W) P0 R, _Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
7 F, }: F2 O" ?! B$ T4 n3 lfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
, d7 F" h- s" r( o# ?) tthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
7 r' x( r* H5 e) P6 j6 k S) \5 ~+ o Ihundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
/ P! `! P7 g+ A' H1 U Zdirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, 4 a Y$ c+ V( ^: K+ o% g: O3 N' G& P
to devastate a city.
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0 u/ w4 a8 s9 J1 ~- r# ^I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
4 m, E/ C4 f5 j6 b; Nand 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 ) t/ ]3 `+ u$ l _
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
2 l2 B1 h4 G. {% s6 ~at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
( Y* k4 e5 I5 y( r7 j3 p+ Npresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
1 z' a% E+ w( ]- Q) d- X& bPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our + L7 o+ ?' ~- v1 ?- l$ h5 E
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 S2 Y' l$ i* o2 `# y
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
" U0 i! o- S+ y: t1 PRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
p- L- T6 [+ f6 s1 fAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in ; f4 e: [9 P5 g( _2 v
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
9 f, j3 e9 s: w( n8 osupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. " x; p6 b. W- P3 Z7 _& C
6 p! I. W! i! }More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
. B- ~1 R! H+ i9 Z. o- R, ralmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 6 i; q) j. E& x$ t' s
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
$ e' u. z! K2 @even 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
: q, [. `( \% @ dwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was O. G% H! s; @- ]2 O) P1 A$ Z
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman : Q& o" l" b$ j9 e! I, ?
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
9 ]! _2 H6 R) d# i8 j& _9 x$ Vpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to $ p! M- n' ? K) F1 `) [
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the : e( J$ ]. O; W5 {9 _6 x
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. # p1 N5 f( Q0 F9 u$ B' g
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and z" F) ]1 A8 l ]' j1 M, f7 q
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
- n; I. M& e' ^6 {of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to * i1 R7 }- }# `9 d: z3 U
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
: L& u+ D7 r" z* {8 C1 {; Eowe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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8 N) B/ c h$ GIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
) S2 F) b6 @% p7 U/ M* k7 |8 q" vmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
2 W$ m, B5 l$ S4 c7 }, z( |+ F" o; I; sgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse 3 S3 o. V. k& T
for it.
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We - }/ F& T7 G' w1 d% e; X3 {; i
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
0 o8 P8 E7 {4 R3 m2 xhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but 8 a' ^; d- O$ ~4 k0 `/ p+ w
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will 7 P! l' R) }4 ~- @. @! L
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits : E5 x4 D, F$ y0 ~
and not merely obstruct.
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
2 k% Z% {) U4 {% rthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
: a3 E* V0 j, b. x1 Madmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
9 o- ]3 R; m2 E/ g2 Pwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not ! m/ `" Q! l. |$ [
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 9 v9 j- r* w: R0 ~1 ]
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the 2 F9 @! |; h! X' {
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 3 \0 O2 I2 d9 s8 w, ^% w9 m0 N' r
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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