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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America . h# T& [7 y e# @$ i$ Y
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
: q6 c1 B8 O* j* h: rthe merits. 1 A5 R J3 j+ f: u8 I. D
By David Boies 6 \8 j; N, `/ U- ]( W
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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& j' A# ^6 N1 v# `" `* a2 i: lEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
6 \' w8 R: \- ^1 r+ BIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
* |, g. r, l- i, lEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
, o6 m* _. f, U% e3 bAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
( P& \5 d. U1 U* z2 Mleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to 9 i, O3 u! g. L4 [4 T8 y. h
address.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt + t5 _8 z: N5 b" F
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
' Y, `* o, Y2 Y$ s" M, g- rnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence ' N8 t# `8 Y' ~. A. I
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. % i4 A5 W$ b8 `7 Z
Trump began the current military campaign.
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6 E& ^+ m8 M' ]6 h* U( QIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous - f5 i! o2 P8 X0 n; L& J
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
/ |: \ V3 X1 s; S+ N. snow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 7 `8 F5 ~& I: h& ~6 u
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. ; p) e3 v- M; \$ ~7 W% ]
; r% c& d% J e; f; p5 j7 G' JNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste 1 h/ i1 k- H/ P6 ^3 L$ z
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action $ X% [: Y) e# C% y' o# M* O; V
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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) _+ v9 a' [. N4 Q6 V& I- sObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
- O/ w% T# \* E" Y9 P4 J3 e9 @. i“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
' \ [% F' c$ Mand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how ! Y0 W7 R1 X+ Z+ V/ F) z
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
" y& f' s( ~- q0 Z. K* g/ D/ uto permit them to increase further.
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve 3 Q& w& O: ]- @7 q
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 0 n1 p0 N/ y( j% p$ n2 k
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
0 U6 i7 f1 h) q; V% {) S, vunderstand.
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" H+ i- e5 i" x Z; P; d6 R Y% GI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
* P- E4 D6 ^$ a" JRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the " V$ b. o/ e8 n* @
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because + U. Z8 W3 d7 M" {9 C/ X3 o ^/ v
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One 0 U2 L7 w! H" K; N
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or . K7 k6 n( G3 B+ _
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, : Q5 M+ V% |7 n2 ~5 n/ G
to devastate a city.
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
4 \3 q' ?" ?- wand 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 ; V ~4 m/ |# r/ h$ r
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops 8 G! A" y# K$ A4 a' a
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
& u" b$ I: x: Lpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice ( P6 H! G8 l( d
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 1 |) t. a1 `& e) @3 B+ \! [& W
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. 4 t+ _9 r p* s
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the 2 o5 O+ t/ }; q/ D* S; w3 H: H- {/ V
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many + P( e: `! X4 c$ P. V- U8 ]
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in , d* h/ b1 h4 t9 a2 d
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
! x* i" W# P3 g2 S. a1 n" UAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably 4 o, K' Y. q! g5 {* @
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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2 c$ h. y2 W# |4 D4 VMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
7 G; w0 |* j* ]+ J% q' Ealmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the " X$ L" t! d" [7 r8 c9 B
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—! L# V5 ]1 R2 E/ `
even if it means a loss for America. ) C/ V+ Y; c8 I* Q/ G
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It & R+ p; x7 ~1 z! U* C
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
+ J3 S& J. M% a! |elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman ) o& c! \- ~7 b) T
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
) F. s, z2 n+ r/ e4 kpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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( y/ t2 {9 y g) t. }6 C# \Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
6 j6 N( p4 D/ k0 k! Kcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the ! d; V" V; a/ M+ ^7 q1 X/ V' B" e1 v' M
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. 9 A# b7 m2 s4 q3 |, b9 C/ |, ^
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and ' D! `( E6 h U8 e
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those ( H; o3 Q" T+ i7 w$ T" v+ h& f, ]
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
" `" j; |% u6 @1 G+ H$ l1 M" osupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
5 ^2 t/ ^ w5 Wowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. ' r2 m3 q$ d8 @, @# P: ^- J
& k: k5 r' E# m. I5 M$ Y- _( |If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
5 {; R8 d+ w9 u5 \ Lmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we ! @; L, Z5 I3 ]+ A) `
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
4 ^5 s# @6 I! u7 x5 ?$ ffor it. + f7 r( e7 s; G* m+ H) n
' Y8 R+ w& U* N: [8 X" ~2 F: g9 [America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We . h! l/ M2 K9 |% k( K
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action * D" q, \% Z O; ]
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
, l* s1 Y( M" m$ s9 v: cmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
9 W3 h! _! q/ ~% o: y8 Ureturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits 3 [4 U/ Z4 X c/ C3 A. O D" `+ C
and not merely obstruct.
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
J. ?/ X6 t4 N Kthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or . S5 V% g! q6 w- r1 f
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
4 k$ O4 K+ H! ~; L% Y2 S! }want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not 6 P* l, C1 r" n& v. L
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 0 ~9 z' z* l8 d2 ]( @
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
k: ]6 T1 u- _8 U+ ZDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 3 ~6 H' V8 C' c7 F# f
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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