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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 s1 ~( p! J& F3 J2 K) iTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on ( z5 {. V3 S2 O" G
the merits.
& b8 P4 W1 ^2 D0 ]6 XBy David Boies 7 n/ ?$ `# \# U3 Q Q8 s+ C7 ]
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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; m; I0 Z i$ J3 _! mEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
. i, j# b8 \' R. M( G1 ^Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. 8 n+ t. t6 {' I+ O( {
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
: O0 m" J/ i% m- o, E& C* e3 m$ BAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president . W. ^2 O: t/ M' B2 ~' h7 i
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
4 S( n/ R2 w/ r& F- A- u: m; [/ Vaddress.
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6 {" r Z2 \# S" R9 [Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
# z& V* v( _+ u% Y0 NIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
, ?' b8 |' S8 P5 P6 H, c2 Enuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
1 \2 f8 b4 m" r; u. Ythat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
8 N8 ^! I* j8 o/ [Trump 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 7 p. A* ?" U9 t u' k. D4 y0 q5 m
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
* S6 y+ q$ M; q+ s/ L+ o4 enow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
& C. D7 h" a R, s/ ]or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. 1 W4 C6 E" O* a$ X8 A
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste $ _( H+ ~7 v: q3 {, E2 d
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action ! Q) u6 o5 S/ l* ^2 y5 `" w/ u
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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7 l# S+ E. t! S8 Q9 r, g' e' x6 AObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
# x* S, }' ~/ K- A7 _, x/ R“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
( I0 V3 @! ]5 Z, hand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how . P) q& @* Q0 z, T. H A f
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
1 f$ a, @$ D4 `# r2 \5 {to permit them to increase further.
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve % h- J% i, v* F( O
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 9 v3 ]& x7 W4 q- A: Q7 w& ^
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
. J- a$ }7 U4 N, w+ Junderstand. 1 k/ F x6 }( |) @, J
/ I9 _. r, ?( }( W; l5 X: WI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the + @4 p, I( D q+ n- \
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the m+ P) L H: @# b8 Q: N, L
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
9 S: j( {/ p) k0 L5 o8 h$ W, athey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
! B) A; V8 p6 g( H6 |9 ~. Lhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or & {4 D r4 y2 ^: |: K# n
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
8 _% x! y) y' Qto devastate a city. 8 {& a) X7 x4 y: H4 H( P
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
1 h" ]$ W8 B/ @ W% Y$ aand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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& I# k9 X' G( |6 T$ o- X; DWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition " W& L% I3 r/ y2 i
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops " \1 T; t9 h8 h% R
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 2 A% i" H2 A* \' h
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
4 k) u, @0 X2 E1 ~& B6 i+ i4 OPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our - M/ K C5 Z. i) d
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. * l1 c: J7 Q4 P, D
6 g/ n! r2 w2 [* jMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
0 B6 V7 I4 Q# Q6 i! pmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
& V+ @& N+ w/ }+ p! d/ s0 vRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in " u* Q# G0 m9 o0 L+ [6 Z: g4 X
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
% g2 E$ ^# U9 p# x( U+ ~* v; t# E& VAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably ; s" z% i; G/ V$ g/ b
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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5 b6 X! y+ E5 l" B6 \1 DMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we ' y$ a" Y- j" q* q6 b9 d) n
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the " ]; g8 R* S! v" `* M# L+ Z+ ]
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
' s3 M0 N1 C9 E2 e+ Xeven if it means a loss for America. 9 y7 y+ `7 e* b2 z! h
; W `2 J4 F y3 OWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
6 a0 G3 w! v' j4 R/ h9 c* x+ lwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was $ `+ B8 _9 }% }% o7 [
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
6 ^7 H' d( u2 ]/ `was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
4 g" V# L6 v" p. T+ F- Gpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
, G, G& e1 h) D% | Fcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
7 Y, S) k( R6 T7 T* i+ Lresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
, w% A4 O& B' N, \8 oRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
& t2 y: G! |2 I1 P: hextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those ; w5 ?8 D7 p" @0 Y0 S
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
: Q9 {" G1 O7 w3 y0 F0 M9 \support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
; x2 D( ~6 F% ^$ [% lowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. , R+ N# S! U& B! U! M$ m
6 R+ ~+ C$ s8 |' J7 B4 `, T: bIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
# p+ K. p# z+ a `* h4 d+ [mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we ' R4 X4 a7 E1 A5 u7 E2 D
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
3 N2 T0 u, H% E% G( e Yfor it. ; ?8 p) r- a! z+ s
( {1 ]1 j: A' S, TAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We 1 n5 J4 [3 o/ [1 U. y: I( J6 X
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action & i% V' s; L' V5 \
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
P: A: i9 u. xmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will ; [( N% s& U5 ~2 E; u; T' f4 ?
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
$ M- `; x/ ^6 w8 p0 q' vand not merely obstruct.
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+ p9 c* u2 p7 L! A7 ]! h! BIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on 8 a% D3 f( x$ A: G
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or 5 l! ]* r% `) A+ N
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we 9 ~- a# b3 r5 n: W- ]3 [1 E$ D8 g2 W% p
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not / a0 N- a% |. H+ W
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
# O4 _* O8 s, e& n W% jwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
; S- ^$ W3 _; @5 WDemocrat 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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