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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America ; U8 _/ E/ }1 g4 s
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
: h$ M# f2 o( Z: U; }3 Gthe merits. - g4 Y! U- a6 t1 T0 l
By David Boies
0 e. q: R4 C9 `1 n+ Q9 z$ q$ RMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET 3 \, c$ z* Y0 u7 T' y! W. _
1 n0 x" G8 _' o: m9 H [Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that $ R/ {, i) ?- q L0 |; I
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
0 `* Q5 W2 x& M t) d! {8 IEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
' J" l8 T+ f6 d6 BAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
! d. \$ D' ]( `" n+ k; ^5 P, v& Eleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
) F4 q# x3 O7 b5 S) Q2 J8 Raddress.
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4 F" Q \ b1 TLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt $ w8 h+ a# x/ P. P
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its " c" v5 h5 B- l
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence ( d9 y& ]* [# m7 `
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. 0 Q7 N6 w3 A5 N, M x$ v
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 o! I/ h, F7 Gchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
# f1 I& d6 P' d; A4 c. Snow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
3 U/ ?% n+ z {& ~or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
+ e# o, J$ R/ d" _, W0 Wtreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
! z5 u4 M3 ]& F* b9 a8 N1 oseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? + S: z! ?. ?1 }* r2 n& V
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear 6 s( w+ \" V! x4 Y
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
# V$ G$ Z1 b0 }" Eand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how ' U! W& j! l$ s4 Y, H' Z+ `' X
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
, n& U7 g% s1 Wto permit them to increase further. $ g8 U* f1 P" \7 P9 Q6 ~9 r$ K, a, X9 ?5 e
' ~# {$ }" D' z8 J2 Q) U8 XFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve / F- o# J2 }8 f+ b- B9 a- i, r( ~
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic $ J8 ?' d0 y* e, Z0 n. u& u$ n
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
2 W, O8 ^/ u7 o+ T# R% a2 Zunderstand. + L, p% Q; X3 Y' \
; z' i( g, L# w% r2 F# lI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
6 Z2 B6 ~$ Z/ D- p7 B$ S5 _Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the - L' X9 ]* a7 R7 S" K: p( e& a2 p1 t9 S K
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
4 H& z F1 ~! d: W/ Z8 [# U* H4 nthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One 0 u1 t3 x' N, Q2 g+ s7 l
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or K$ m: O$ M7 n( z
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
" V. w$ \( F& U8 |* ]to devastate a city. * H' ^% @+ S8 \5 d! \
+ N# _' Y5 k/ X5 C) y- ~6 V6 l) t' |I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
$ T& p# L8 d; d0 o. K) E& N9 Xand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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! N' T) K2 y# c) u2 Y% RWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
8 x. i- M5 E9 E9 [$ Z: arooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops 7 X2 {) C9 @7 S- N
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
) ^+ a6 h& ~$ vpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
/ {2 c1 Z+ V3 R8 G9 G' UPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our , Y, P0 V+ q3 o3 I3 l' h$ E6 o
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. 2 [8 t" u" J& C& k. V3 M! n
- N: a" C/ h( m ~' H. H6 s2 p( VMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the ) b/ g" D; p% v* O! n( B; J
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 8 a5 _& r! G5 q4 E; L
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
9 I* N+ R+ W& m& `* [Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
/ T3 I& O: m! |7 |Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
5 l/ j7 X8 Y: C0 ysupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 9 K. C) o8 \# u( ` n
& J2 v( L# I) P9 Z+ f8 Y
More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
! k3 |6 N: d& J0 r! ~* Ealmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the ? w" |0 \6 q$ _. J; W. o
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—- L( M/ T' ~: \2 R1 m" N
even if it means a loss for America. 9 ~! b+ ~' c7 S1 ^% c$ S
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It 0 A7 V4 b3 F; a! {
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
: [; H- H1 E$ G- O6 Kelected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman $ k% u* g! R2 T7 F- a0 j
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the 6 T3 B6 a9 H2 l) G
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. 2 \4 D" k2 l% b1 \: T
9 d# g( s( G4 M) f) l# c' h& }2 O2 PTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
7 z# B1 h9 o x* S! C( k: zcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 3 V# K8 K1 `" n3 P
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
; I( V6 c! b% Z0 J4 }% n6 @8 w! V8 O3 VRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and 6 Y: ]( f9 w% t- K/ @+ N1 j" Z
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those " M6 M( I* f b) X5 p1 R8 V
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to / D* Z8 G7 d k/ ]4 y! z
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
- P( y8 p! k. t" ~owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 9 O- f$ d: r. l8 v
D. [) @4 Q6 o, L; R% _
If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
/ h8 D' M# d! d* hmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
. g+ a4 v1 M4 d8 rgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
3 @$ |" P4 ]2 s" [/ ifor it. 0 Y0 Y! H8 Z4 i- t4 U' g! j; @
! Y# @1 {1 g& i$ C; fAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
) `. @3 G# u3 N- {Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
& |% [. L* t: |had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
6 `. [! S8 i5 Lmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
! O0 O$ T1 K: O6 Jreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits 2 \. M1 U+ Y7 o- |
and not merely obstruct. 3 e% F3 k* `0 U( K5 [2 H+ L
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
1 S2 d5 x) L" J. x6 L1 ?this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
7 z- b* U$ W/ E- a5 n% Z; I4 Hadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
! u+ C) R9 V0 `% p5 \4 w; a2 \want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
5 O) ^+ ]2 x- S8 }6 obecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they . i; J; O% M8 v7 Z
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
- y. p' A* |1 Y9 L4 j/ T( u5 \. _Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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4 E2 V5 m+ q: m* m2 ZMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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