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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 {, q! ~ f* M, F$ Y
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
! |% [' _0 k6 r. T8 N( I4 ]( Z/ cthe merits. : P7 k7 T- e" y% e
By David Boies
4 }0 M; F) K: v# q! R/ c, p$ kMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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K, b9 ]7 Q5 e5 t6 y6 W' bEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that ( x, R+ B# `& d
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. . u1 U) h% g# g* f
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against / L% X4 y. T8 @/ G
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president 1 t" X' v& y0 X# R
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to ! { N; C# b8 P9 D2 A W
address.
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5 r) ]$ t3 q/ g2 U9 k* Y& o2 v% {Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt & s1 V+ G( z6 Q, I, Z# g
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
! H: m0 j2 \. ^( _" |! enuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence ) w8 t& U9 \5 ?2 p
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
" R# q& i& h% N) Y$ y# M) ?Trump began the current military campaign. : d8 k# c$ k' u! y1 a& x8 ~+ e
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
) {+ C9 L, I# H( n! ochoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
% {8 C: t. u U* ^4 `# C- I. @now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York & A/ U9 m6 J* @3 U+ ]" s0 ?/ P N3 ]) r
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 1 Z4 N8 {, J. y) j0 v. M
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
" o3 G6 @1 o0 w9 _5 L+ Wseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? 2 t# k2 g- M5 y5 S3 H
5 Y; i6 |: ~% o+ @Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
" s/ A/ R! P2 W* ?“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
/ b& H& r; w. X1 W: k. Dand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how , {2 Q- J6 B( d8 F, d5 m6 g" F
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
2 D/ b9 C$ B- w" z2 a7 L5 S" Vto permit them to increase further.
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Y8 n# P; o9 G3 M l/ ~- uFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
2 s* G8 i' `0 n8 z% {tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
: @' K' r' U1 F6 E5 a4 ?" ]sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
' w3 o2 R) o( Gunderstand.
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2 Y v" j( S5 ?% B: `; q* Y! _I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 3 W: \: w) a/ v( @/ B! A
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the , }8 f( @9 q( s5 O
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because , L" j% u- v, N% {
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One , |- T: w# b9 s5 Z% m2 Z9 e
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or # e& G9 v& l4 m g" S0 U3 f$ G
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
# ?) v+ F5 b& n( r& bto devastate a city. 5 u" S: ^, ?8 S& j
$ D0 d0 f3 P0 U# e8 k- }6 }I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel / W5 k, `8 l8 Z; a) L
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. # a) _2 D* r5 ]
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition ' H( G7 O k. p" ~7 U
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops 7 P3 ]: K' k0 s
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a " d. }& u# v% T" n( @4 `
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice , c4 I0 y: R5 y1 b
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
& Q \+ N3 h7 R Q1 W7 e/ Yhistory 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 $ O9 u. F- H8 B! b
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 0 n5 C7 f0 b; q0 J( U' Q6 G
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
% m" r; O* l! {Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in & m2 g7 n8 P( a+ ?7 |8 |
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
9 i7 X& i+ O/ H6 J! Wsupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. ; d6 r& p5 z* G; s' I
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
, J6 P9 Y' O# c6 Aalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 6 i' y2 @- h6 e
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
9 j/ u; R" l' h7 Keven if it means a loss for America. / x, u* F4 C4 ^) r( ]. j! T
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It & K+ w* i, h2 {! x% ^ V
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
5 l/ R9 }. G _3 y8 P' ` Z, f8 Velected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
* A5 t) l/ T& R1 Xwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the 9 W- ^6 X4 @+ [# O5 n
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. ' ?- _0 C7 t5 u4 i4 u
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
3 Y) N5 C( P' {2 r, Zcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 4 Y% q, Q/ a0 |! w( g
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. - |4 c! q4 p/ i! z1 e, a' N
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and ' n9 k* @+ w$ t/ ~ {8 h& X& o
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
9 }3 w- A' z% w3 w1 F& g( p& rof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to 2 ~6 {9 B/ M! M% b
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we . k+ t& P1 d1 C$ [7 H4 q( [
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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/ W1 i. s9 p; Y- F% j* s/ ^" PIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the ; G! {% C- T) T l v
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
# t2 J# l9 f2 a% ~generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
7 r# a' [' M( O2 A' s9 q* kfor it.
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2 `& L' `2 M; s/ xAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We - n$ M4 h6 c3 |2 h
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
4 ]1 F( A5 j) ?; f( {had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
3 z- I" B- i0 S' B) @maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will 7 O. {1 S1 _) R: p- s
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
* i& m# P7 f v( t- L& Cand not merely obstruct. - X2 p, g5 ]3 ^/ b( e4 r/ J% n2 u
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on , O+ x5 S% s! v" f+ k
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or ) w, M; V0 p7 z0 T7 K
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we 4 }: Q5 _, D3 O
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
9 \" o4 \+ l' u+ i- bbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they ! c' l- N# Y" U
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the ) D7 \% d5 |+ E0 K% x
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 6 ~3 x F- @" e1 a& h9 ^
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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