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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
$ ?) b, X9 i1 JTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on . S* K0 `2 _) r4 t9 Z
the merits. 2 h3 o5 ?+ n, v6 F8 c# h. p4 L
By David Boies + h& c' a9 C1 l2 N' d- p, N! o
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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: q0 G9 g% K3 xEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 3 s$ F+ v0 M, @- |; |
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
" Y+ `; o# q9 x8 X' \/ Q* qEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against ) U8 W/ T% L" b1 G
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president ( O$ Q! ]/ j* ~$ c0 b$ G
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
, u6 D, t. q; l6 l& aaddress. ! O, r, ?- x2 m
m$ y! u- { K s& rLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
1 L! W9 d( ~5 T) }# qIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
& a: U4 D; }4 G. Z9 O. s! Onuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
+ p4 H- r* A' z8 E1 W% k9 Rthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. , Y( ]9 ^& J% `2 M$ N2 m
Trump began the current military campaign. 1 I% M: o7 Y8 g
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
! s# t7 k& {/ O! u% @; I* n) O, m& o* wchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
3 c% T' h; v4 ~" r! y Q3 i9 \now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
+ l. Y$ \, j) S3 H& M9 Lor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. ! G) P- Y; g, o$ l3 j
2 `, K+ G! X0 C, K2 e9 q2 sNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
) [# p4 ?9 a( ]+ Q4 \: p3 ~, ?treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
$ k0 V7 @3 t3 `" y/ yseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? 8 G$ k8 {% f1 N: J/ y7 C0 p% N
x. B/ h5 b7 _; R* r% B/ a3 j; c& J: i
Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
' k4 W, e" Y. t* x' Q1 h+ ?6 }+ ~“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons , y5 }/ l# }6 Q
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how # z1 P; l) }9 e
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been, U' ^" S2 a2 k
to permit them to increase further. . S% J. F; Q+ r" x# A# p, `+ ^
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve + _# P4 y3 _4 f9 }' c
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
: s( }9 v9 Q d* {sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
; S4 a5 V* L" b. Runderstand. ' t4 w0 u$ P$ N/ r/ ~( ?6 J
5 D8 f. K5 N% T. PI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
8 x' y% y7 g8 d( `Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 7 o$ X5 i6 n0 z
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because 5 Z: J5 y) G+ e- t
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One 7 V# |) M3 Z% P: r' t
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or 7 ^$ |6 ~$ F. D! V, p2 R
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, + B+ ~7 E) [: X) C: [- Q( X
to devastate a city.
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
5 M6 H4 c8 ~% x2 kand 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
: Z0 T$ `- ~4 Z3 T$ q+ X6 Irooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops - B- r! W4 B+ N& W* k0 ^* i6 X
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
5 X* B: L4 c! s$ Upresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
2 a) q3 L' {$ m5 R. PPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our N6 y* q3 W8 p- h% R, ^
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
$ T& Z9 z* i" L" O; D0 Dmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
+ A8 g- j' C" k/ M2 hRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
& L$ b( A, x Q: d: k. RAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
9 X- b0 A9 L: P3 N; d# K6 }Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably 9 @0 y1 a' x7 \
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 0 g: x0 }% s: @, D
* h1 y9 S" b" O5 n/ l3 RMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
# c# H- |9 f3 Qalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the ' A! Y# I4 {4 E+ L4 Y( J/ b
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win— _) ]( f% N; N
even if it means a loss for America. . _' ]8 }! f6 i' F
0 w% M% u4 d9 N) `" HWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
" \8 L5 k. z4 ?# H0 I4 z# Kwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
" d/ ^. v+ k7 {elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman ' W- X& k9 f% s
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the 0 [$ M3 ?/ J; G" ^: l/ v
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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" }$ g9 v2 I2 Z4 NTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to 0 H, T4 g& T( ?8 c. ?
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 4 I3 i* o4 Y1 g6 P- V
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
) Q* U4 ]" R' \& a1 e4 }$ URepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and ( N; J. U! a V; l$ y. @9 U+ a
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those 6 L# q! c3 c$ _8 v
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to 7 q( I# K; w$ F5 h% @$ E6 k0 |
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
" D" c; V# Q0 i3 `owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. g& e2 k. K, q' t. \2 G, K7 X, Z
. _5 ]% Y# L1 _4 mIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the 6 X: t+ Y" m1 v. }4 b
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we ; \3 V8 X v( g/ `* m
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse , u2 V u- B1 k; b7 `' `+ V' x
for it. : ]( d1 o6 E& M9 h+ v( z# ?
- ^$ R, n! z& W" z) \& c. RAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
4 m! f9 R% G+ F6 w& v3 \Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action 2 J3 E- j: p- U3 Z% v6 a
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
. M. ~& Z w. p% Nmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will 3 W( m. h8 c) T2 e) C
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
/ j* y! Y/ a# b* r1 p* dand not merely obstruct. 8 r2 d8 y, ?4 C7 A9 j
9 o- E. c& Q) V* gIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on 6 p! b) x! W2 j* S
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
; M% I/ |& {( p# s8 L" gadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
( O% i$ |$ u9 C" \$ s6 Q8 ewant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not 1 P- I) f/ Z2 Q# j! c7 _
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they . }- X3 Z9 i: s
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
: J* `, s& k( VDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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