TA的每日心情 | 擦汗 2026-3-17 22:01 |
|---|
签到天数: 1133 天 [LV.10]大乘
|
沙发

楼主 |
发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
|
只看该作者
Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America 4 U4 y6 [9 P3 C% K
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
5 m g* ^9 i$ `/ U, Z+ Pthe merits. " _, y: B1 R2 w ?. v4 {, }
By David Boies
9 I8 b) E+ J% GMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
% Z8 g; }$ e" @, j/ i' K* h. y/ ?; [: ]" v
Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
) U. d. i/ a5 J$ ~Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
* _/ D9 S: H; K* N" d# ?Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against 4 P" j' r( A3 a% J3 O
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
6 e4 F: y7 Y* [- Q8 c$ @left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to ( o4 }2 d6 f) R& v: [; U. V) M. v
address. 1 @5 Y: S+ V5 t$ p6 a
2 s) i/ x8 i$ l0 W6 Q% K6 C: yLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 8 y1 ^! _& N% ]% l/ {: P" e X
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
# O1 [/ n' C6 l" l, z$ onuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence + ^0 r8 B8 f# B8 @4 z- @/ ^
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
# p7 L4 V$ e, G! i% Z; l$ uTrump began the current military campaign.
: Z! R5 @# v! e! Q) _* w5 E+ `, \' H$ J6 M+ h
If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
. D6 o& l3 h, p( l- xchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
# i3 {' A2 ^( b! Cnow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 0 r; U+ A* K% Z C! w- ]
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. 7 H, R/ D3 C) \6 `. g, [ ?& C: S
& Y9 s( T; N: ?+ i; B# X) GNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste ! R% U' m7 {+ N7 k8 s
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
2 w5 f, q# |7 n3 ^. A) J8 Dseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
9 w2 v f- s5 F* Z0 D: N# _2 ^" M n0 u& S0 ?. L
Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
f- T* ?2 x5 j; q/ U3 h, k“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
, Z# D. r. k% m& ?4 F. Y7 M' band the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how ! `2 V% S9 B3 u4 j" Z1 q! W) z
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
4 @: i( Z5 x* r0 {' bto permit them to increase further.
: n8 c5 P$ S4 W6 M# p, Q7 [1 D, m7 O8 p) H5 y) }% b, w
For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve 8 p1 D, f, @ }
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
* h& E; b4 g1 }- {& A) y. Osanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders 9 K- E" J5 K1 I+ l
understand. + _+ I | B6 w- M; l
8 O% |4 c% F. X8 M4 }1 tI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 0 h% e) k+ l. @$ U
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the ! X; J+ |0 F9 V! W& j
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
5 r/ [1 m* o+ x$ b0 I% Q% Wthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One 5 D: u/ e2 _% H5 P
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
% t+ Z' D- j6 _3 ]' x# V! R4 j% edirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
" v3 I; ~* u* a8 k% T0 A5 Hto devastate a city.
0 t L& U" F, t5 t+ d: {2 Q& \9 v& ?6 l. g5 {5 i! m( {
I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel ) F6 U+ H n; E6 b2 O( h
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
# E. a. D7 y. j2 c6 N
O! l* r& @+ U/ yWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition * M" o! n) t5 X; Z) ~0 Y4 {+ ]
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
9 I. [0 S! t9 e6 Y& M( m, @at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
, w$ G% }0 g: ipresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
1 ?+ T% p K2 F8 Z- [President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
" }6 f7 C- o$ n3 ]" _" Ghistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
6 J8 {( D0 }: u% b8 p4 w# R
/ h S7 s8 H" }3 Y, k# H0 u- @% hMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the ) I0 K; P! _3 k' ~
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
: I6 ~& o2 H W0 z1 e% F% F$ X) r! ~Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in ( v* ^) y& T3 b' k2 P( ^0 x
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
/ `$ |& b/ J8 `$ o8 VAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
& n0 Z! ?+ d" t( Isupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 5 R3 v. s! T0 f" e' {* `
- e: @1 T. D4 f, j7 h0 l8 F j+ ]More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we 3 N/ U" o3 L( c4 k; J3 D
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the & m \" v5 t7 H% ]+ S
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—$ n" ^ c' H' \) p
even if it means a loss for America. 2 m! ^: c- l4 r' z1 ]
+ A- J& b9 }5 A6 _When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It % K& e# ~9 i' `
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was ( w: ?9 r( T8 y
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
: H1 s4 Q! @) @0 T6 J, hwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
6 R) s% B7 h: l9 }9 @- ^6 R1 ypopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. , Q$ O8 u M2 g/ x/ W! g
) j2 t. _+ R" e( M& JTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to $ V% j R( \, y' c: d8 g# k
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
2 f0 X* R2 M8 \result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
# L: F3 U4 _$ `1 pRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
8 v8 f; r% J3 y% l' W5 }& j9 \extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those / Q* E$ [; P" ^, N" |# N
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
$ Z$ N9 M% h7 {* P' Rsupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we ' j" n$ N' u- c: _; Z* v/ ?
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. d% r* ^* b" a8 m+ |0 k7 t
% v4 w* |; w6 y" dIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
( h% y5 y6 P1 w1 L* C3 E Y0 Dmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
/ P, R, Q. o# @) O# Ggenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse ! S: K C3 f# t% j `
for it. : R0 {" W/ [4 x: A# O) O
: D/ l1 | s) \5 FAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We ) `5 b* r2 A2 u T* H7 e. S8 y
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
! `, c2 C( q% l, hhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
H, U6 _5 v- m- O, \* `maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will ; ^. b' C" H* E: r2 E: {
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits + X7 D8 t* p7 E9 [! z8 g+ v. i
and not merely obstruct.
' Q0 ^5 Y# d9 o, w# E8 T1 x O# E( U' Q+ O3 w( M ^& R; Y
If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on 3 E w. f. T& R/ C9 \+ Z
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
. R. e( m% z0 V. k4 M* y) iadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
. M4 E2 s5 S% v8 F* U6 C9 |$ fwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
, q. X/ {" ]- M( e; ebecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 5 E: Y: b: I$ ^9 {$ d
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
; w3 k6 f0 U0 Q0 S+ d# c7 KDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
J# U5 i! O+ C# z* R$ L
, ~* l" o% N) K5 i0 A# ^Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
|