TA的每日心情 | 擦汗 2026-3-17 22:01 |
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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America 7 K. d8 s$ P1 I4 z O `
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on & l$ ~' N) I0 X4 @) Q0 \/ a
the merits. . `3 s% \! ]& y) c8 B
By David Boies
2 o3 ], A# y3 F0 K( ]: P/ r+ ~March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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2 z: |$ f/ ?) v/ [6 UEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that , _$ H" j( T5 D2 p: F9 R# m
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
* w& B4 A9 e& x& m1 L, Z3 V& E% N3 XEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
0 s( t- a: K4 M% _; J9 B9 V$ P0 jAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president ' i, H! V! Z/ Q
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to ) O3 W+ g3 g: A, ]. y. K4 R
address. 8 @" V& W9 W7 L; g
/ L4 c$ [. ~5 l5 ]Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 3 W- C( q9 @2 N( Z; l$ T" n
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 5 Q( I7 E8 m3 X" Y% ]
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 2 G; R, d% ~) {+ _/ l% U5 {7 w
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. ' k1 q; j* i8 i* V+ B
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 . H6 i# _0 X% @2 S, D
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 8 M$ _6 v2 n' x
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
J' l/ p H. B0 kor 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 ; D" I# Z" f! ~! x9 l! r
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action 5 y \5 p; s- ~' |, |
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? + o: f# b5 ^6 p% U& @
8 T9 \5 F( ~' XObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
[0 ^+ @+ f. q& q7 Y: T“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
* F. A, A/ Q1 e; T) o; rand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
/ ^7 h& Q* D3 T5 |9 e- F$ rmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been! M: {8 O1 Y; N$ Y
to permit them to increase further.
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6 k$ N; |2 y5 ~/ }. rFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
+ K7 D$ N) X. P& P) l) C2 M: M5 itried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic ! }- d K% Z4 q
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders 6 l& c2 C. R: a2 b8 r
understand.
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, [# }1 i8 z, u) K Y5 {6 Z6 f% CI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 0 q2 A( a1 o, y2 F. h0 e
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 9 d+ p6 ]" `/ K w# x6 {
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
. v7 r5 P# d5 I) w. k: Uthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
* k6 q% \$ Z6 r% {9 F& _* {hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or / }$ S7 D F$ x' l% s, i& M( s
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
0 B) Z9 W$ n" |% B- Lto devastate a city. : L) ~0 A B/ L# ]8 d7 `
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel % ~( g& h" |) t4 k
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 4 r* @$ J# X7 ?4 S
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
5 w1 ~+ [6 E) p- c; Z! | |: N0 Oat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 8 t6 z! \. T2 A& r
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice ! G# V6 Y3 }5 q* g9 \
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our " B" W- `# r" ]2 ^
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. 7 [# J' ~1 f7 C8 T; e2 H
0 E1 C6 S: c9 z* h) nMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the 6 V& C: u2 F7 t2 N
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
# Y4 Y" b+ I+ ~ S3 n ~! jRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in , l! J3 t% E" F
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
) A; e: c, F& P3 R HAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
$ k8 y- Y/ a, s* V9 S# v' Asupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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" d* }# l9 @; }6 ~. a6 T) sMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we 8 Q2 p' w, x/ {! k$ U
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 9 @! m; n0 B% T+ x4 K1 {( u9 l
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
% k/ N, F; @' O; m1 F$ w* teven if it means a loss for America. 8 L( x* P" a. j4 V2 {* ^+ ~
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
. @- Q- L4 ]( A/ Xwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
$ \* M8 E) m T y% Z( O! Z6 velected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
) e5 b! j7 J* x' b# E$ \, pwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
; A" O( F1 a% vpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. ! x; f- \4 n$ Q, ]; I6 _/ F6 d) W
8 x1 @3 a$ p7 z1 J- e2 ]Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to * p( n) |7 ?% M: l3 H6 @; L' e% r. R$ I
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the + z% H2 @% r6 G9 k
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. 7 d# j" M6 j3 u# F$ B3 F
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and % B: `4 @$ L6 f; g
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those ' K6 d. H' @* i( x& I
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to / D) ?; e' `2 |7 Y6 ~6 H) m
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
' ?, V2 R4 w$ ` aowe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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: Z2 x' o# v; d4 P8 z8 fIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
# `8 c! l' b* W" C6 N( jmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we 5 C. Q w2 j$ H9 ~' S5 H
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse $ ^' a4 l, @; I) s. J
for it. 5 A/ ^: X# m, W4 @' s
& V- j+ J7 j+ CAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
0 F; [2 g& R; m5 i5 h. b' ^5 }. bDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
6 z3 ]4 T8 v; ~* F0 ~had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but : |3 K2 ?3 N) j3 m( H# d
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
8 t/ G* `: ~8 `: v% p9 j0 Xreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits - z# m" y- x0 q* U3 E3 i/ A6 V
and not merely obstruct.
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on 8 G3 a( ]8 U4 S% w6 i
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or ! S# t9 ?4 m5 N# m* _; g% a0 L
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
( d4 r4 B+ B2 b# l y% Swant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
: g7 f; g9 f4 h" |1 Sbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
8 f# ~2 `4 _2 G7 t, U9 `. Iwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the + X! s7 t7 q, Y+ }8 x
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. , U5 b* [3 D2 X: R
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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