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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
8 t+ m7 [) W9 g. h# W0 @& p8 U! LTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
0 C) S* g) B( C$ F, q' `1 _the merits. . d% z( Q9 l6 s3 A! F
By David Boies + r8 M' M& U6 a3 t' }( b
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET - K+ P5 S! X% a, Q7 J
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
8 g/ F' t6 b7 c$ M% y2 A" A3 X. p! nIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. ! s5 V) [2 @5 k3 B0 ]7 |; C# A1 V o
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
% C' L6 l; ?/ ]# e2 Z# YAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president ( K& e; b) {$ u) K: r; B
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to , i& o; K# U. T( q
address.
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. _2 r: e5 e3 f4 _Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 9 t, r: y) F& I& I: v& E+ b
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 0 D% y7 J' r( j) G/ \
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
( g3 a C) W1 ]8 M8 D& Vthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
s6 G) ?# I* |1 m! o3 ]1 @4 PTrump 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
' U3 h9 `# V5 C0 ]: Qchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles ' s( [( y& H$ [9 C- D6 y/ s3 N6 q% s
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 8 l7 F6 h6 G* ]$ M$ ~( S1 v% f9 k
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. % g" t# y8 J8 K
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
. J. T+ @4 p! u0 ?+ [ m2 dtreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
. x6 v8 E: E' j' \seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? & G' B4 o; K1 i( u1 Q! G
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear 2 d' s3 X* i0 c- I
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons ( F a1 ^( R* n, @
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
& Y/ ~, b2 `8 q& Imuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been+ J! y, ^9 i q! u7 ?) |1 k( r0 w
to permit them to increase further. 8 m/ ?5 D8 n! Q& Y
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve ! y& B$ j" l5 l7 g. {# e f
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
$ b1 M5 d) _: L, dsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders , a& E2 _# V4 T8 d5 C
understand. 3 F/ ~' B9 Q$ C P, `0 ^; D! V
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 1 S4 a& Z* s x5 }. e
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the # g9 k& @3 `* k; d
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because & x1 B e/ ]+ C
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
: g$ ^% Y/ v# F! H0 dhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
/ ~) G3 x# V4 o0 I Xdirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, * ~1 m. \7 Q3 I* d
to devastate a city. 3 h5 S- l" e, d4 P
8 L" m# v) n8 q4 R. ]3 @/ Z4 [ xI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
0 Y. @* j; T- O9 r2 {: wand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. 6 M: h6 F# x% r8 h# Y$ r( L4 P0 y
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
. v/ N* }6 O' C7 r. O+ E0 x+ ]rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
# `! X4 g: ^3 qat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
: M# b4 J2 {. v- |president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice 3 i6 V% ?) _5 }, ?, v! f
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our % V h" e! O& c1 M
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
# V! h* K F$ \+ h* |% U; ~military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many & i! H0 i" ~' f
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in |+ b v4 ~/ z) O9 A( {. k% S
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in , q+ z5 v }2 g: a1 a
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
4 S& i$ Y+ w$ h" u( |supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. - p0 H5 Q% c; S" ]+ k8 ~
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we & c- J0 P y% N9 q# W0 w3 p
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the % u& h0 S* s& y! g3 `) O
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—4 ] N. M- |- l6 L/ \$ D/ s
even if it means a loss for America. 5 T) c$ C2 h( m3 O6 I4 ~
. Q8 b+ `7 z9 mWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
$ u$ i7 F! {2 E8 P; l$ fwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
+ ]( H; W/ B h1 celected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman - ?# @* E0 z- f) w8 q
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the # [* Q: t4 Y* Q$ q' C3 d3 g
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. ; T; h: x, J5 B& d
/ ]: P! g2 q5 q: \. O+ T' j; H6 e* xTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to 0 Z: Q, n# v+ X
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the + Y# {5 S4 B( J* A# I
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
6 Q" V1 h W' U d* H* rRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
/ G+ |( i1 u+ i0 K- N7 C% aextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
/ b2 ?7 M) C9 W; y) b0 E4 ?& ^of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
/ L; g2 |; o1 ?/ U" ksupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
! \$ O9 _, U' S% u( Gowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 9 N$ R9 v0 n* X) Q: }
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the - e; U1 F8 S9 b b. b2 y
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we 6 v) h6 `7 n8 O* B g
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
`5 ?$ Y0 s/ v' J1 o b3 a3 S) ofor it. 2 ^) E9 u1 {% T6 t# Q: z; v# }
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
7 C8 a0 t" ]& x* O6 D& @Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
) |% N3 C# A% phad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
' L7 K- f1 v, ~6 z; j5 omaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will / t' ?' n+ A; S- v9 H# _9 Z
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits ) ~2 X& P! S- z% y0 F
and not merely obstruct.
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' k3 E- g' ]; X O3 R1 l) eIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on 1 d; V6 U/ g5 w2 ~# ?, o& n- V
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
' B8 { u* U6 X0 p; xadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we * D; t% ^% y U( r6 L$ J% ^2 L
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
* y$ _% w$ Q/ y# H, _, _because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
2 \* s% S4 A. Q( H: d; G! A' owill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the " T3 t7 d' T+ ]' y: J; ?4 ~' e; l! S
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. d" F( g2 X" q& F. \
3 g% \- q% ^" b' {' fMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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