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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
3 Q/ M# x8 t6 c* e$ YTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
& t2 z, {0 E, U3 Fthe merits. ' B% [8 K( k5 M; a
By David Boies 4 b% x% t% s# y& A0 v
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET 1 D% J) Q$ o& |0 Y3 L. a
" Z/ `& s3 @7 B0 I0 v6 `Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 7 r& g& I2 `- g9 v1 l
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
, Q0 ~" N& G" q2 l& V3 m: FEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against 1 |' B+ V! {2 x0 _1 q+ _
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
) m$ R; d, \4 Fleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
9 A) ?1 J7 s* \8 V& `8 h; B$ T Naddress. * w1 X4 K; j8 h! o' m
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 2 v2 T+ S" z# F, V
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
6 R' ?+ w6 l# ^1 B' hnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 5 U, |; u) Y5 f; J1 Z) w5 \
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. * M) x+ l: @& ]6 y0 D, N7 }5 D- u
Trump began the current military campaign. * b' v: a/ Y! a$ } u- ^7 A+ g
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous C( f; k; ?; o% i" A! C n
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles . o: B. J5 H3 S) c& \2 X
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
1 v. j% Z6 N, u5 T+ K8 Y8 Aor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. / K4 k z2 @, a# J6 n" ]
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste ! k( |: T2 N4 y. M |$ m
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
4 m6 v! i, x+ h9 N4 [3 ~$ Dseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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) \; W" G; P8 |. z2 r6 _Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear 4 H1 i) q- f( F0 O5 h3 d1 p" K
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
4 `$ q8 C2 H4 r5 k: R; Oand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
! n6 y: X. n5 {$ I8 @3 G% umuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been# d% W) d/ K8 Y' t! P9 t
to permit them to increase further. & ]$ }7 @. H0 J2 k# |# n
" r) s$ p/ h& d( i t* K7 m- q1 SFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve & ]: H5 Q: W' l( x9 @% Q; a
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
0 p5 x; b# i& l3 F- bsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
7 \' _" V4 j; I( Qunderstand. % |1 m. l" q/ C: n& Q }; Q9 N2 [
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
/ T0 `* z2 c' X+ V5 \3 ?8 ]Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
. J# ^* u- C! K" X9 r: z8 w! Qfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
7 z2 i: F. Y3 n9 v0 _+ y [# B+ Kthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One 8 b# u# {- A" [$ n0 \
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or - \2 {$ E1 ]0 a
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, - k! J" B8 Z5 P- V4 Z# }
to devastate a city.
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, Z4 k& M- g$ f* g- ?* |I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
; L) l' E" d7 b$ I. F ~and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
: y; s; K' l; i9 K3 M f. O; Trooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
6 X% v& ?0 T3 [) o3 Eat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
! S- V) p) j+ P$ h# F6 H j) s2 [president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice 0 F5 t$ _- s" T6 | T& ~* a# k
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our ' D5 J( v5 ~$ C% [; K4 ^( r
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. 7 ~" P) {5 _+ K
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the U/ `/ e% f3 ?8 E; I0 ~
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many * D4 ~+ i e% [
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in * F' d+ D1 F: p' V3 i2 k" z" I" n3 v1 _
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
3 ~: P* y& |0 \Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
5 a$ `; D: L) N8 ]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
4 V- G o4 i( r( _almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
( l. N* c K; {; @9 y) x) Bpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—& q* F4 o. ?3 O
even if it means a loss for America. , i6 D& o9 T7 E R! ^" j" K y" E
, v; q( ]2 \0 @6 E" aWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
k4 y* n# f0 L: ?! |4 f# ]* ]was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was 0 V+ |' i, H5 G9 l- K
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman 3 ~8 X$ ~. e; J9 f+ A1 _
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the + { Q8 U6 Y4 ? D, l4 W# v U
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. ' a0 {& @+ }) _( e- D4 t
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
8 W9 w$ Y9 x1 A3 y7 G) f( `9 Mcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the ^" e+ F! F$ o
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. - j. H+ Q% @5 q- ]+ ^: U
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and 0 Q, m% r9 D1 ~5 v2 o2 g
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
' ?& H" P: C+ ]* o. M2 y6 z& w2 a- Cof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to : x' k7 |( f; c3 H
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
8 \; |7 y U2 G! o, Zowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. + C% B; Q/ }9 G3 \6 h1 H
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the - J# k0 N: z8 @
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
i& S1 Z. s( O2 j$ Sgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse ( F5 g& z( R& T; s. U
for it.
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
$ f/ s; f, ?$ Y$ h9 b$ ~Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action 4 i. W; y8 v% G
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but # v3 \) X8 r$ V4 d
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
$ o+ l) o h nreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits 3 f; y* N; n- B8 E, q x
and not merely obstruct.
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
8 ?7 Z0 I& v' g8 Othis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or $ S$ H) A/ u3 q
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we ' Y# I( o7 A% m
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not ) Y$ K/ d0 |' s0 _0 J
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they # F9 X' l5 P$ o3 X+ s0 K: N2 O
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
+ z" R! s7 P: K9 y% Z* YDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 5 P6 ~$ V, l9 D: h9 o$ S* i5 o; ^
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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