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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
, f& x$ y. ?' J0 @: h0 oTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on * b7 s, v$ y3 H+ Q. d/ [" Y# A' L( S
the merits.
1 x5 ?" q7 z4 L# xBy David Boies
- e0 }0 c' V$ p5 I pMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET ) P5 I* a8 x' _7 B
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
/ P; v" X7 l7 T# \. d }, l* JIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. ( F& r# c/ G O0 S" F4 `9 o* g
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
; Y! P- g- H3 s+ I* D. ^American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
% l8 \/ M; ]( Y/ x+ H5 zleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to 2 a! }# g" M, o# Q; G! i3 F
address. & O* I: O: O2 ~3 ?
3 A( U' z8 U$ @5 `Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt , a8 t, K# y) v7 }: E
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
' J+ b# P+ Y% M' T. [nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 9 M, t5 y5 A. c4 r: b
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
/ q/ X( G7 Y+ W/ lTrump began the current military campaign. ' K1 d/ D; w1 l8 q+ A3 u) C- Z& C
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous # F! k2 y8 v- t% o0 d
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
! B" m: ]3 @4 E8 d8 v) Mnow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York # @: ~6 M5 B8 s* l
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. 7 o9 v! L/ j9 z# Y8 D# T
; G" J3 d9 B9 W% M; A. V9 L8 nNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
8 ~- a4 H, q7 x Jtreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
- v% u$ c/ {$ @! ^6 `+ J0 m) zseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? - N6 J# s( \& T; _% P" Q5 k
2 z3 D' K9 U6 s' o: t& S/ tObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
; W8 Z- u( T) e“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons % r: S: K. L$ p9 E/ R" r+ M% z
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how 6 L2 x" q) w6 a2 \3 [5 R$ B- f5 e; A
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
t& Q8 ?* i" D2 U1 X8 Zto permit them to increase further.
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; s8 N: K p; c# R3 w+ q3 S( eFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve ) d' V7 ~# D4 A) m) g9 `
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
; B9 ?3 p' l! V B5 wsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders - a- V2 g$ {4 k+ c+ C6 E
understand. & p- B/ N4 E- X3 E6 i" R
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 3 ]8 \# u+ a% [4 W# q3 R/ P; `
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
6 N" k; A& c* i# [8 efantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because # V" q+ N. a# v6 J7 n) m9 z
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
8 s$ f+ Y) e9 rhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or 1 S; c' x( h/ o* t7 |
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
* R, h' K* d$ u; a& b! Q( I' l; [to devastate a city.
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel - m6 `- d* [8 @& j
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. 8 I& K( J) \* G' t* ^/ i* N8 t: x& q
: ]& U% w: T6 R2 }, E1 F+ }What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
1 U. p/ s# f' [; A+ q8 N5 qrooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops ( ?9 ~( ^5 B% [: F( w
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
+ M* Y+ _ {! r- D* Opresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice , x5 m; k3 K: ^
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our ' \. Y# S3 {# V7 D+ |6 R
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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" E, ]# R1 H0 O, g* A2 W% E. C( M) TMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the 5 N+ F9 g! P1 P1 A ~
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
+ N4 T6 p, j! L4 ~. PRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
* K$ ]1 k! X2 F2 {8 L2 gAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in $ G9 A/ @4 Y# m+ f6 Z# s' e! E* q. I3 c
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
5 C1 N% }4 r# P$ c2 P h+ u5 h4 I* Jsupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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3 J; K! @( ]. C; ?8 zMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we 7 }. o# ^! a2 c: ^$ X @
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
' L. j, m$ w" V& I+ Qpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
5 L1 u$ I# {; }' m4 h" Yeven if it means a loss for America. % @, z2 g# z( x) Z' i
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
. d" D1 T S8 V! @* s7 {was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was 1 m6 C: s. z% W2 o8 I$ ~
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
$ Z) L, I1 w' c! dwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
S2 @: a+ o! j* b+ I4 Kpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. ' B( [- @+ S/ F/ o# m
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
5 F5 Z8 w) O" i' Kcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 9 y0 x7 z- H. p8 _. @% {& Z
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. 6 F: M N: a6 y
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and E9 `! h' J7 J; U
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
- R7 }) n! i8 ^, T: \. f* iof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
' y) e Z9 v% ?support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
9 N" X( ?3 Y" [4 r8 p( T( eowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. + C0 F* l; G" E; q& Q4 }0 c
" [; ^8 q, R- mIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the ; }- t/ Z7 V8 H, Q2 C, _4 d
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we * ]% l3 {4 Z, M; J3 w
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
- `; ?4 l1 d5 D, W2 ~for it.
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
: P; J6 s, g4 ^5 f! z+ z a" \Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action 9 n9 w* [, e5 K6 _) G# A6 q* N+ n
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
+ N" Q* g9 d j4 k% ^maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
% `# d3 D5 ^) A* rreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
) ~& m! u1 M3 G, \$ X- ~and not merely obstruct.
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( _6 |/ O! U& g9 x6 x2 F8 t: fIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
4 W$ A4 C- r# t$ B6 h& r, Mthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
e0 c- z2 c. e8 \+ ?* r4 dadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
1 U, {* F9 D- d6 Rwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not ' S ?! A6 y' m; e
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
9 ~% O2 F8 v! zwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
' `3 ?. A1 v7 q. jDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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& u+ n; v0 S9 {* rMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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