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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
$ \) j; @# H* xTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
8 ?- q: L* A; q- |6 s8 I3 f8 ]* Dthe merits. , n* t, P- M$ Z5 g5 `# Q
By David Boies ( a! K! \% w! h: D+ n3 E& ? i; g
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that % ]3 D7 t% t& W( [$ h+ N6 K
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. ( c0 O/ {8 E$ Z) \3 }9 Y* P
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
# j. V+ C7 K( D. C. j8 TAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
6 b: Z) N! b3 W' K+ fleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
. P. `1 j- |8 ^address. ' X# W, k" Y' x! Y
9 K0 _# E0 j/ ^, WLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt / [' z, r5 e. e# y$ m9 ]! O& u0 C! S
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its ; P9 _; Y& P" `
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence + }- r# }6 t: Q
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
* A9 n( B) A' X/ X8 uTrump 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 ( u. t$ |5 {) H
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 8 S$ g- ^/ H7 M% v5 z0 Q& m/ d" c5 t
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York , @! C/ a+ n9 \- C) v; r* m( U
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
% O3 z) t; D% \2 N7 otreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
9 F# k6 `! A/ k6 Rseems 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
8 a* B9 Y4 o% I) Q' W) C“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons 9 ~. `6 @7 [# N5 t+ V, Q
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
3 x4 K7 J7 c- ~3 Fmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been) v4 \$ Y0 H' H: j
to permit them to increase further.
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" ]. ~+ P+ q0 P3 r* _- ^; i1 v% vFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve . M" l1 h' |5 e
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic * i! C$ M2 _( h1 H8 I1 h
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
9 x. T/ O) B3 X( v9 K2 o; Vunderstand. 5 J2 H5 C5 l4 @# J" G! t: X( {3 S# q) g; W
# c. Q7 M; }( S8 N" Q, XI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the ; ^) ^- k" {; m. w9 s+ E+ l! e) q
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 4 q. b/ s7 l% e
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
& g! X, V2 A. s7 O3 e! mthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One 3 m; Q( z. C5 \
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
6 r* b1 B7 U1 ]; g+ T- y* ^dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, - m3 X# i8 {& N2 c
to devastate a city. 5 o5 w$ a/ o2 f7 R# j$ z
' \9 M. O( v5 S+ D+ SI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel 6 ^* b. V1 P8 V
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. $ d/ P8 ^! X {
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
7 `) d- F; I0 ^2 ?; i- trooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
, @; j+ z) _: _6 u$ f# p6 Vat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
' h' K$ Y) h9 g+ i. U: y( ypresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
5 @. l- |0 L4 ?* r0 @$ |0 @President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 3 e2 y# y2 ~7 I% z7 a# Y
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
, C7 a Q1 y" D- z9 dmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
+ E- ?% @0 ^+ y' O$ XRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
: n7 v8 k0 T& l4 l, A7 sAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in 0 T2 b5 V$ L: e
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
9 T& v+ y* R w, t( v$ L+ ]supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
) m' ~! v: x7 u9 R ^+ o' Oalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the , a1 b$ S# I1 r6 K$ b
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
8 ]" \4 ~3 t8 X7 k) a* Weven if it means a loss for America.
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. D& Q) ?( D4 u4 Z0 I5 s, X; D" DWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
& O6 r# e3 b0 ~5 \# S2 G: q3 rwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
* `+ G6 b3 y" ?$ T; I! B; I- u0 B7 ~elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
% d- X8 p2 n8 Zwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
; I8 Q1 L! ~3 W! Jpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. 1 y7 H: v+ r' f g1 F* z" E
, \! m- T* }( e; rTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to - e" K- \. ~7 z4 |" Q2 n+ c
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
2 |/ |% j, y6 @7 D1 gresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
4 L& Q! C/ k8 ^/ |" rRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
3 N3 o, L2 X8 |& ~- Y; p% bextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
# Z: ]8 `: @1 P2 i7 K" hof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to 8 A1 b; V: w0 k/ x
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
- P% X( q; K6 y+ ~" M7 N& j, Yowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 2 S. p: |# `# w F9 F# J$ V
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the ' B& I$ O2 F8 X7 f& R
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
! C5 q+ p, \8 I. ^9 N `4 pgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
5 Q6 N( Y6 m: u ?/ c$ |0 @2 jfor it. 9 n3 l) f3 K8 {% H6 G& _
; e$ S5 S# j1 m3 dAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We : C" @/ J, f! Y: ]/ m: @
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
; k5 I9 _2 r8 d) U N. Shad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
c5 e6 y X( B0 amaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
: H% ^7 o; W; i" k" qreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits , r6 k) U5 z7 X" K! m5 g
and not merely obstruct.
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( B$ G- }7 ]5 eIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
- n; n- n2 f' pthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or $ ?( b* L& s8 H
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we # k' S; w. [' K: b) P6 d: c
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
# ]. i4 t# r* r( t, Rbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
/ c8 q: D |/ \4 vwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
`( K+ q, ]( e9 mDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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+ G2 C8 K+ H, P0 BMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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