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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
. }$ b$ [1 i3 F; _9 [" eTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on $ R* w6 V7 s0 U- [: N) n
the merits.
; u( p8 V( H, t, m* `% G7 mBy David Boies
" o& \9 d0 o" r( i" g% R$ oMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET # u) v6 E+ ]! W* M6 O7 [
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
4 G% T. X1 d9 _# iIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. 2 T g1 o0 l$ M* [
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against ! _7 j8 a# R" k* C
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president ; Y# u5 u+ H* P
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
4 j4 z# Q: U) l; f& k+ W1 o8 Daddress. , `4 W. d6 ]: o k- _ A
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
8 K* A/ _+ o9 P3 EIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its - c5 X( I: {* w
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
$ ^. W- O+ B; l, Othat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
% K" S! h( m3 o" h H6 `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 " g+ a2 a8 S. Z! z) `
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
: p3 j8 j! o! [+ F* Hnow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
. E) d- l/ K, } v- \' Qor 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 ( |9 S. O5 e! ?1 Z/ Z2 {* ~8 V4 f
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action . A1 O% I5 w' E6 A e! H
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? & |! K7 x9 f9 s/ ^9 O" u" h4 _
. i& B4 Z1 }% A, [) FObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear ; v% x: y+ L! k# F4 B8 T7 r" A- u x
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
' o* c' V% v3 b3 Y" W# D2 F7 v. Uand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
% |3 F7 F s' w5 [: Dmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been5 }% l1 K9 L. U7 k v1 y& v
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
$ R- V4 |) @- p( e0 utried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 2 k- @6 F3 H! M) l2 M6 Q
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders ) E0 u- v% U. e/ r; e e1 K% v
understand.
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" W0 b; d' g* r2 W0 V' Q1 n# FI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
( T* y& t; i; _8 v8 s/ f4 zRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
: ~$ F2 Z6 N8 \4 D7 ^. K% ofantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because 1 o* [6 I$ c0 ?2 \; h% \
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
' S l3 c! q, R" p9 o* O/ Q' n0 }hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or ( J# T* I3 @2 \* I4 r7 ]
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
! v+ |$ a* `5 r2 m4 Ato devastate a city. * ^, J7 p8 d4 e; h5 s
$ d3 O2 K5 Y3 H1 x' g5 {8 J9 eI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel 7 P: B& l; S8 b
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. $ m7 B5 [4 O' h7 d
. g% g7 a6 m% A+ D( S- `What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition # W% S- c' V0 _4 L2 q9 F5 N
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
- S7 h8 P( S$ R- Z7 I$ @at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
2 h) u( [# m2 P$ F* H3 Mpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice - L- `; ~# x4 @6 R
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
4 [; L5 w" B2 u: B- Fhistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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9 B; }5 Q) S9 L( n4 g: P$ |More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
# b+ z( B4 {0 Q3 z# G5 C6 C0 }4 s+ Cmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many ' ]0 I& R5 n8 U
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
4 V8 C- M, D+ `& GAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
8 ^3 P% }6 l$ ]: IAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably $ F$ r8 ?* _- e" \& A9 k
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 1 K: [* F# @, C& J: Z+ e7 U4 X
) Q# w' e* e* \" mMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we $ }$ Z# k9 R# D# ?
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the - @: Z% N6 f0 U# n: I. \4 M
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—2 J4 l2 Q6 o) D5 V* A6 L; Y$ C
even if it means a loss for America.
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
0 K' C. F8 n: n4 owas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
9 G+ _7 ^* z3 Yelected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
0 ]- l8 D4 i$ Q- l8 O) r' \was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
~0 q q( [! A' apopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
' ?/ b* e5 h/ [1 q+ C5 Q- Kcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the % C( H+ z( H0 u' g, B0 [2 g" t% }
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
/ b1 K _6 ~; Q7 \ I, WRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and " t+ ?' M- u; U; W+ v
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those 1 _# o t0 k$ z: b
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to r' A( b' V: G# |3 m" N% K5 N# m
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we # O: |* p: e& m( k" E# ~6 Y8 f
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 1 A( ?: N; g) G' H& Q
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the : T: t6 c. d; u! \( D
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we % {2 v1 i" u c/ {9 i
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
4 A4 S4 C! [: b8 Ofor it.
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' {5 l" Y4 O5 P2 }' _5 k; SAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
7 w* D8 D3 J" O$ KDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action ( k9 O5 B" V, C* u# b& L7 [7 c
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
* T4 A( U( a2 b' V% f5 imaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will 1 m9 y) S, @( l+ q$ N
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits 4 z* f0 J$ g z& I2 ^$ \" r9 C
and not merely obstruct.
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6 E! `! }# v ]* ?& p: _If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
2 M. e t$ ?+ ^2 h& z o* c$ Ythis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or 2 v7 {) t! K% y1 U( S Z6 [
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we ! x7 K" d5 H) k! l+ B
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not I9 c" k3 m1 r, p
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
, z" I# M+ c0 ]9 y7 H3 \9 t3 q) M$ R# Wwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the * [. Z5 g0 M9 u' v5 {5 m3 x
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 4 o/ v* q+ k M6 K r5 B# N
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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