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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
' ~: M/ h& A/ B7 }1 z& f7 e: HTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on ! B. m3 f) j! s/ P5 X: K7 Q% E
the merits. 5 U: j6 M/ S5 b0 p
By David Boies
2 G" m) v1 Q! [1 F' X0 e' MMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
. |" Z4 }9 |9 [. S$ lIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. / [' a8 G% {! l4 P$ d$ h
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against ; u! I2 W7 X, r( d
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president - ]1 ~5 \. {6 P+ h* y3 s
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to 5 S; ~% l5 V* D% D" T
address.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 6 K# [+ N4 x4 G! M
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its : F# T- V/ n$ t$ C, @) c8 w3 {4 l
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 5 [; d$ J7 a$ |9 u+ z
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
5 U; q# c1 A5 K2 g [3 s- a+ i8 BTrump began the current military campaign.
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! N' ]5 V- I3 N, @" I2 KIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
- Q$ i; ?- K9 G7 O/ W- s, Xchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles i7 G$ c0 |! F% e6 d3 i/ ?9 s
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
- v+ A8 e4 O9 V! Q" L6 Oor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. / d# n& u" t% D) e& v' E! H3 ]
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste 3 X" g) u# X9 a/ N+ U
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action / r* c' X% |# z, e! A
seems 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 ) K2 w0 r$ _# z) ^) G n
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
* f1 o( C; P& @( M9 ?and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how 2 |1 m+ ]0 B- W1 M: j# R4 F% Z
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been0 B+ ], X& B# c- ?5 V% h
to permit them to increase further.
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$ w- _) V: ]8 i% @2 u! {7 GFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
& u) q9 ]$ i+ O1 q- u0 p+ R. ntried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
) g/ O* L% D" \& h$ msanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
; m$ s$ F7 K/ k. W; _2 R. yunderstand. ; D. ]! _2 T7 x4 I2 F8 [
8 G& i! Q% Y' d; Z7 c% DI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the ; k* b0 J% x1 H& A' x. W' A' F
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the D& ~1 k. H. A9 v: M7 e
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
9 L' b" ], G& [ Ithey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One / O" H& q$ S1 v/ s2 V- H9 x( ~$ {
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
6 m$ ~$ r. Z, d4 ?/ q+ zdirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, ( j: ^9 Z& t W0 Q$ R+ R
to devastate a city.
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4 W8 Z( o: U! EI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel & R, T1 {3 Y# q) X4 {3 d
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
) i% ~0 w/ f- W e$ ^rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
- s$ r$ {" D3 A" Pat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
) [9 X9 Q8 T* T7 Gpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
. |6 N* j3 q( M1 K1 _President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
: U" c8 C6 Q2 P, vhistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. 2 d0 z. e. f# {$ q% H" Q L2 r: @
: Z/ ~2 H' \& @/ zMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
( y7 P. H* k% Amilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
9 [ T% C7 a1 ^) f. v. h( fRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in {- V! v2 I' n \6 K7 ?. B
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in 3 V# R" C" N% o+ `$ e# ?% S
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
) ?' I9 s7 |$ W9 g3 e. Psupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 0 ]% ~4 ?3 z& O+ h7 j4 Q# ?' v
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
; C, Z, ^% D u, xalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
1 [5 Q! O! q3 Z, n* ]* \/ d& z1 t2 fpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
$ x: A" S7 m0 ]even if it means a loss for America. x a7 ^$ D. j/ _
( ~% \8 G* ^9 Z) h0 F$ GWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It % K7 d! k0 S/ x5 K
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was 9 Y3 A& }8 F/ m8 T1 M" @6 z
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
; m3 ~+ ]& s/ `: A2 G( Xwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
' f+ ?4 v7 T' f0 O: C7 Upopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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" L$ c1 k( b- f5 T" p5 U' iTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to : p! n! p- w2 H0 q* w1 `
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the ( o8 v) t4 A5 `* `
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
1 j( q( a8 ]+ p% HRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and ' r. h) B6 d4 x( W* `
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those 4 _, g H, a, a+ V( n( i* O
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
# H @; [ `: w( |) }5 B2 Msupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
5 P4 k, ~( ~( C7 h1 e8 dowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 5 B% [% N% q1 p5 m
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the ! r" U( R Y0 ]# S2 _
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we 5 ^, L% A. x) q, x
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
% \7 P5 z; T; a5 s8 Lfor it.
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# Q$ n$ o; J JAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
; n9 F& [- [6 A4 z4 jDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action 9 h7 Y3 b* U( m* f, @6 B1 Y
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but ! o w7 F3 `" p- N+ B5 H6 h/ e3 y
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will $ T4 N. p6 G: W5 m$ B# W
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
+ J( L* T3 ?. Z: K h+ nand not merely obstruct. ; I8 Q& B& b+ H" x ~+ C+ ?
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on : e/ Z) s; c# {4 [) T6 X
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
; ^- T3 y7 M qadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
# p3 E4 i) X$ i9 Z* X5 Bwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not - i/ M/ Q. f: C
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 5 j5 m/ J/ I$ j g+ n3 \2 q$ j# a# O
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the 1 C6 L& A* D5 G
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 5 {0 O4 f4 m/ [' L" D/ T& v/ v
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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