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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
" o/ g2 l! c* L; gTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
. A5 t$ O* c1 ythe merits.
, W) j: s) I9 z9 G) M n2 V/ W% JBy David Boies
H7 i, A& c; ]! ~- O9 _$ RMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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4 d8 `8 |% L. ^0 J2 @) iEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 6 ^# g- }( N0 q7 `
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. ! q; }( N3 O; I5 N# i0 h3 e) P3 C
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against & Q( ]8 x! l( N- E; F6 p
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
4 ~( S( }0 _8 Y' A% }( Zleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to ! o; S: U- ?& f' j0 t# P5 L( { ^
address. . R6 X! F# u4 N4 X- ]+ t
7 V7 P' L' S6 i5 }; p9 uLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
" M K7 t- m& J/ v/ FIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its & ~7 K! a) _& |) L0 J$ C
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 5 q1 W4 G4 b5 h8 o4 Q* O$ G8 [1 D
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
j$ A$ [, M4 [: T5 y0 }" u6 Q' _+ ~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 & P: R8 f) t ?1 t! U; f
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles ' G O, o9 ^* q1 K7 j% e
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York ; ]: u0 j. o- W$ F2 t& `* g
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. 2 m' n% ~4 r" Z0 Q/ @( j% b
* A" ~1 D; l; L3 ]# PNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste - C1 B: w& q4 D
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action 8 W8 @1 |2 z) L- }& W1 j v* j
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? ; p: ], k( h/ M9 _$ X1 x8 H
3 p& g V+ u+ |& _Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear * I. k& h4 ?. D7 b* M3 Q) n
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
' j& v0 H# k6 ]; a( _5 ~1 M, gand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
$ H# I7 h6 X6 t5 Vmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
, A# T$ x- m( |to permit them to increase further. 6 v3 H6 j" D0 x1 S3 \& [0 q
; S% w; `$ ?4 T2 f T& N2 @9 oFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
# t# V1 C \; A" L! O. `: Utried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
1 J4 C4 t, u, _sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
2 [0 o2 w# k1 I3 v1 Runderstand. 2 n8 X, \# X% k# Q; N( [, T
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
- F7 M. H" w9 v, r$ x# {Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
8 g# U1 i. t" K* s: C, J3 yfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because 2 t) p/ P/ K$ W( U/ V. s, {, M+ q" P
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One ! b1 F% Q* E! G$ j
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or 1 ?% `( J2 O9 h# u
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, 6 j: G, @7 c1 i
to devastate a city. & a; I6 }) N- ?$ }/ _+ x; r8 S5 E
( d( G. f; W6 a1 B1 ?1 X' nI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
) j. Z" l" I) Tand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. $ }# x" t. F, S/ v. R( B
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
" Z3 u$ p& e, c* O7 D5 Lrooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops % C }: ?" t& ~
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
' q% O8 G$ E \ c9 w _9 d; ipresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice + W: F% ?' m4 e. J- @' ]! w+ Q
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
; m7 M% R4 w; \* I) Vhistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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" X1 R/ G% j+ r; \) [# K2 k' {, fMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the ; P* M; P8 _/ @" W' w" `
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
) T4 ? Q& `! E" G6 f! fRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in # s$ n; j! H& ?- P1 i3 L
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
7 w: ]" K7 u, W9 p1 g C. oAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
6 F# u6 Q6 c! x/ r* Psupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 1 T8 Z5 U! e" f; S* g
* e9 V5 w$ L: g; UMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we , D7 f6 t+ G. b/ Z" m5 e5 b
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 4 A8 P- N* m$ P2 u' {# x0 h1 c! Q
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
. d2 n& y2 u8 C- B1 y. Peven if it means a loss for America. - v, Y5 ^' _9 ?! E. C0 ?) k
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It / Z; h+ a# ]+ W# P
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was & M; g& P2 ` H0 p: J3 ]! m& c
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
& G% f& N, M2 b# b$ d( J& Gwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
; M. ?8 t6 u x( l" Apopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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% L' J: t" o: ]Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to ; a% _) j; A& ^; \+ ^- t
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
% D6 h, S: _9 l0 F4 K+ kresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. 1 `" @; ?+ z9 y9 s: i
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
7 H' Y- N6 K( U% Textreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
/ O0 K) W h5 s$ X& j" xof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
$ k7 i" R+ e, C; a% @support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we % X6 ]' N" k# B( ^ P6 d: x
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. ; [1 ?4 X7 m+ h% t$ u$ `6 }
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
0 J3 J6 K/ U2 S8 Lmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we 0 f! {/ u. c1 q- z" `
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse : D% \3 W$ g ^; a) _
for it.
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7 b1 z: F$ `" B; Y' P* fAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
6 M2 `' ^6 R: S4 x& U* DDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
0 ~. }+ g/ S S4 rhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but 7 c& w6 A- s. T9 `; _! W. c" k, X
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will : B+ d/ W2 F# d! x0 ?, I- U
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits & M3 Y g, X& E
and not merely obstruct. # h. z4 T+ z+ p/ ]; D
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
. ^6 Y7 i B3 \% v" H) E4 j2 m. |this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or : u) r% [ i% p" [8 {, G% Q3 o
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we g- ^" X9 a6 S- C
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
) E6 {+ h( I/ l9 A" hbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they R4 v' T8 N: D, h f
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the : i) t) O5 o( q4 d, w
Democrat 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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