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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
& v: @: {! g" l" n+ J. MTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on # J$ \4 V( d7 ?8 Y, h g( E
the merits. . u5 F! f4 S, l6 z4 S7 u
By David Boies
# i0 z* v o; o; t, D* g6 gMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET 0 e7 k# k* C6 `7 d$ A' u. y
- s# C/ }2 ]5 k% |% g7 H4 fEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that ; m% L" | ]6 W
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
6 B! R- G( e9 }& P( D j f, c/ A6 cEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against % D. v% }0 Q" f0 ?+ `
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
9 `! u2 V) e& ]% ]" n- S/ N2 rleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
6 b3 k5 X6 X* K Iaddress.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 0 x4 {7 f( n$ d! X5 p! [
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 8 I" ]) Q7 a7 E9 u' `/ y
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 7 m) {0 l4 H, b& A9 ~: M6 \) |
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. * F# u: R; y$ e, D3 Q8 I2 h
Trump began the current military campaign. ; f' i( i2 {! c; Z. V" o
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
" C; C# m9 O8 J4 f% h, e$ ~choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
# X9 f- D8 G& Nnow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 3 T# W& a6 F: p8 k2 z x5 T
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 * H0 Z; z! o, z, ^+ b
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
( H& K. S5 }+ L! Y* ^9 tseems 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 $ b% @0 ~; b# I2 F; \. `, ?/ V
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons 0 x/ _2 k& q# G5 c# {3 ]# S+ |- a5 t& |
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
5 D, M. e, m$ g# Z' ^2 t8 Lmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
, w, I; u% Z7 J9 w& d; g, r+ |; dto permit them to increase further. 7 h% g6 r) r6 C8 s4 ?) k
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve 2 D+ A. [& ]7 B S5 Y# D) W
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic # h+ @* R3 @" z# H) e7 R
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
: o1 C5 o0 M+ U& P' C9 x* @, M" iunderstand. 9 ^3 q2 ~9 b1 T! ]% f: ^5 o
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
2 S, ^% \" Q) G3 K1 DRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
6 q" y2 b$ Z! b6 n$ N C8 j; v& y' yfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because " {0 k4 \+ R; K
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
7 |" v8 w4 u' ^ G# dhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or . D I9 B: h. e( N, ~1 @
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, 8 J9 c9 v3 F3 U
to devastate a city. & M' b( }: M+ b! P8 L" ^
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
7 `$ U1 u7 ^4 A0 U: gand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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" b2 |5 y7 @! w* Y: l3 ^ o! e& XWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
9 p$ P- X: X# x' Erooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops 2 a" J1 s6 \; P" S( }( t
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
- v6 ?1 j6 B. dpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
, l! {& I1 W! VPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our . K$ z) T3 J1 V, k3 z) ?7 i
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. ( d% k' V+ r! R. U% K2 u0 N. F5 d
8 Y: k: a6 T1 S; U* b$ a% t/ G* M) ~More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
- i8 I1 j0 y r* ]+ wmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many ! u. _' Z, @% T2 v3 @* J3 `
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in - G# I; j* X; A7 Z
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in & ?+ y# G9 }' }
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably ; h5 ^. v2 X2 J1 F
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
! J1 Y8 `) s3 e9 d7 W* Oalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 0 Y3 M1 k' K7 W2 p: l
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
# A0 k# h/ z$ i% ?7 v/ oeven 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
" i3 @( h( Q3 J! [/ Nwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
s7 c8 \9 c/ R# D0 melected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman 8 f w1 F% @) t9 T; t
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the & G8 I. {! X( Q4 z+ s
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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+ Z( |1 `# A( }$ H, o) }; i% jTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
/ t0 R( D7 c5 a. p# W: E' h: econtain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 6 ~( C) _: @6 l- ~% t' ~
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. ! S6 [* b5 @9 u. S5 @! k
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and 6 V5 i& G. h, X+ N( o9 I! o& ~
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
9 }0 h+ X" N6 L$ i# T9 |of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to 6 u5 b: q/ t8 ^' V! J
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
( W; R5 a9 _5 Y$ Rowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 6 E3 Q' y# x- E/ `/ M
f# `4 @4 h( Z& G9 q) N0 _$ AIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
. f7 s- D4 m% H) Nmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
( c5 u9 O) Y0 A. {- y* tgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
" G! z' D+ l ~0 L& Ofor it.
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# _7 d* Z; c' w: \, `America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
' }1 e3 Y4 ?, v7 X- ^ jDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
`" W5 W& J" ]+ V. o8 B7 M3 Ehad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
^! e* R a7 G/ `* emaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
2 @% {( `5 K5 o; `return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits $ m% ]( i/ h( c' A
and not merely obstruct. # t' C8 O, F$ s
" O B v J( G; D' fIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
5 V1 K! y* o! v' `: M g+ d! f3 h. N" Vthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or % j' N- q4 Y5 U2 c( M
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we $ I$ b P7 E7 [4 T% q: p4 L
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
6 U- `5 A' N3 B9 E) l& p1 F' Cbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
2 h4 u( ~, o, i/ w, ~' g& ]will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
& S9 h+ B0 k! B" T P- t. Q" k! S- hDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 4 H# o6 T% Y( w2 ^- q
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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