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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 B0 h: u) Y( l: W; [Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
$ S& n) P! \* I# O' |& a& athe merits. . O) ]# w# o7 u4 _. e
By David Boies
$ G. l$ h6 H7 [March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET & P& z$ l* l+ S7 y2 u
1 w& j" Q. `& ~( R1 H3 p( c2 `Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 5 R; W9 H% z; i& Q$ g' ^) Z2 z
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
8 l* B% d9 c( mEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against ; J. |# l7 ]! g% N
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
, J: M; Y7 X+ T4 z+ M- x! V1 ?6 @left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
, x( w% i" E7 ^0 z1 \address. a! M& \$ ~& P3 M
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt % g1 b8 N c# M! C9 a$ W$ V
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its ' ?# F6 {# n& X% H( G
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
9 ^- `* n% Z# A5 \4 Y4 g, r8 xthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
7 J/ H1 z# b: b+ o: yTrump began the current military campaign. 0 ~6 f2 ]3 l$ ~3 i& e
8 L8 p T3 n- F- jIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
@0 b$ h5 d& ?( Bchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 4 p. ~! J: R; c0 H( L( J
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York ' {! p. p; e0 ]- ~
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. * B6 o9 @( @9 A, A' K- |8 y% u% K. I
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
2 ~- i% w1 s8 M ~5 Y0 r5 N, g, Wtreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
) B0 m6 W0 @- U4 Rseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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9 I5 z4 J" L3 j; O' c) E* FObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear % f) h0 q) `5 ` G; o) E) V. L5 S) A
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
1 u) U6 N3 ~. G- y2 n9 mand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how 9 `* g% E0 l4 R4 W
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
7 }# w. A8 m, N- a J5 wto permit them to increase further. 9 y0 [5 v) ?4 p
- `$ I5 D) r# W3 M7 d/ }: qFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve ! i+ p+ J3 Q' h) l# ~; _. i
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 4 ], @* [/ B. W
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders 7 X' y6 S- H4 {/ N ]0 z
understand. 1 @5 G, S% d4 c7 i) @! R; H
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
% }& T" I6 |0 B! n. K, a5 Z& WRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
0 i8 j$ J" T% Y" ]fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because $ e: o* s3 J U
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
& K5 ?; `$ b$ G0 R9 Whundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
* r- @; M7 }' _9 l$ y: N1 Pdirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
9 l- w7 U% K, P& ^* h# E" W& Uto devastate a city.
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel # L; v3 Z; \+ S' S% ]
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. 0 y3 z! x5 W @
1 o8 H& B4 i' d, ^7 P1 v0 l2 KWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
7 d2 x* d, W' v" e# x+ A7 g) zrooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops ) O2 M) X+ Y2 z
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 5 I8 b6 \' B% z! W% M9 @. a6 b7 D
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
" o& n. Y0 J* E& VPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
% m. X3 v" P6 g9 B4 Whistory 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
g: g1 x4 m% z+ i1 qmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
* z4 x0 e( R/ x/ f" D- Y: rRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in 4 A; t& K7 g" Z, s* l
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
: ~; V& h1 W6 b9 I3 W9 @Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably ( j1 L$ G, Y' M! O. v0 R
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 7 [# A; I: Z7 l1 f; z+ j
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the " u) w& u% n U' A2 T
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
' X! b5 g& Y' F `9 S8 d. Z0 E4 Peven if it means a loss for America.
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) p( A* K( K. B$ s/ uWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
0 v) t0 X9 s4 ~, } nwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was ) Y# t# ^& `, h4 c- ]- F
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman 1 R# w4 v2 T$ m9 D
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
+ k$ d `5 ^2 F4 Y% l. O; Mpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
& S3 N$ G0 f, [+ w) b Mcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
% A) `( i4 |/ ]: T5 {, ^result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. D0 x7 |" X; D9 I- T* K
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and $ E B! K) s6 k! T. A& r
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
& [: j5 t9 j' I, g7 }- jof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to ( }% _& @: ` R# Y0 V8 ^8 _
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we ( R( k V2 G0 o! o
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 7 O# V2 L5 m- q; N. | F; }
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
+ ]6 d# a7 m# r8 a w* Emission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we " Z+ s: Z6 G$ G" c0 D0 i4 r
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
% [9 Y+ |7 O! {8 X' Lfor it.
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% K9 i5 a) D: A1 [1 R) O' B! p. M0 UAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
{+ M. _- n( I) T0 LDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
5 B) y" d, q8 ]. R! chad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
$ d6 K4 y. w* V [& G" Smaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will : F9 p9 m! D0 D5 V
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits 2 |3 L4 W6 d* E* `
and not merely obstruct. 0 \" v) o7 {5 {) ^- U
+ P, [5 x- t& wIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
' H1 T" C" _4 O* g1 d S/ dthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or $ W6 A) H8 w( x4 [
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we ( W% |6 K3 S+ u$ q- _5 q4 m0 w n9 |
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
4 j1 e. Q) o! Xbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
4 i% }7 S* _) O. Rwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
6 b) S. O7 c' P4 q5 P" d' pDemocrat 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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