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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
3 j: B6 H$ ?% s# L9 L! |* _Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
% X6 J4 P7 s5 L, v! h4 a/ fthe merits. / \3 I* S8 t- z, @
By David Boies
0 @3 `5 Z& J" j' T' e1 g# Q5 yMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET 7 l4 @& N+ s9 r' F# C- F/ [
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that % X; \5 V/ J; h1 r9 ?5 V# S
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
1 t4 B. u4 B7 q4 B$ g( |" k, HEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
6 K5 e7 m7 \# v9 lAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
* }! O: q+ d% ^3 n" H" xleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
2 O I9 n6 L5 c( Y; b" C9 ?address.
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% c \" d, q' c! y* e3 ULast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
0 v' n8 e! b; D: f- U* LIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
2 z$ w y: l5 Z( I7 O: fnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence ' O1 Y! m* u- t3 j
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
( g0 C3 A B+ f9 n, y! F" OTrump began the current military campaign. 3 Q( Y5 Y, x: D
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
N4 ?8 Z, Z7 i6 l1 A+ m4 E' Fchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles ( ]! C* P d. i
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
1 k! g# U D* ?/ }' kor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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" z- H5 D9 ?; h! @No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
0 C8 _: a8 o/ s% [& K. E$ J5 Ytreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action e* r6 \& H' } S( W1 h
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear . T) }7 n, S- O) v# d/ A! V& m
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons # S: @; v) p9 J/ p
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how , E. p# N. e) x# f
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been/ ?/ f+ {/ O0 ^9 s
to permit them to increase further. V1 _0 n$ J q+ A4 [# g
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
$ P+ }6 I9 Y2 q( |" xtried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 1 Q6 a# M( c9 C$ C. f# I7 o
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
3 O8 G' j3 f# I2 @% n$ Kunderstand.
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0 T1 P" `3 p! tI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
+ S% B9 @# I l. a# R' GRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the : r; H4 u! w4 p/ U: g* m; |; N
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
7 U2 ^9 [2 a% Y0 s! bthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One + u; s& E: [- K9 Y8 I% W, a
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
w/ I4 l* f$ ~6 k9 D6 f6 F' |dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, 0 o V; c& \# C9 K6 v! `* O; W
to devastate a city. 3 z3 G% ^! U: \2 c( g( Y1 }
2 m0 F3 L" P4 ~5 Q+ P* g" b
I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
" J) l d* D: v! c6 Vand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. 3 t5 v V% K$ u
! \* p* T0 S8 ^3 k6 s) EWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition & V, u* y! `+ i: w! S
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops D$ T) C% q8 }
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
7 G" t, {) C% ^" }# Npresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
# \$ }, i9 {1 D5 e+ ?President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our $ e2 I/ u' W( k% f, R
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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& @" u/ Z6 {5 _+ h7 {2 Q' vMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the " H$ b o, z9 U- I" b
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 8 u0 I8 K4 g7 G5 m3 |
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in 8 G/ r1 q% e) v6 z A
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
, K; m6 W- r6 m0 |3 L2 DAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably $ e) a/ r* y0 v6 K2 L
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 5 ~% y. |2 e1 g5 u& H
+ l" x5 K- ?% c( k& NMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we 7 i3 V3 o1 l% A! F* e W$ L
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 0 V4 e7 J7 X, x+ P8 C; k
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
9 e2 T+ W1 z" X8 A0 I+ W7 m! `9 X% xeven if it means a loss for America.
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. a) C! q) e; X' B) q( PWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It / o2 [, u: l( b/ G6 {" W
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was ! u5 X9 K& H! X2 M4 ^
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
" b5 ?) g, Z1 ~; ?' y+ zwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the : }4 U A- o* e' w1 l3 H
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. . Q8 F4 ]0 R' F2 [& W+ w
4 ~2 H& y! u* q$ dTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to & B% v# C% S9 Y7 F$ W( U0 z1 {
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
8 Q6 T' g+ O# `* `! cresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
8 e) F9 l$ |' F- N! j5 MRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and ! F% K( [! ^% w6 C
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
8 [1 }9 e! y; `' @* V' H1 Gof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to ' q/ w+ ~, F3 m" @) E
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
/ K! {4 c! O+ mowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. # ?. F- c8 w$ H# e
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the ( y2 K1 L% G( z
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
% ^; M ^1 d# S7 G/ Q1 E0 p- wgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
! \+ T8 D/ z) O% j6 A& d- `for it. 0 r) L" n2 g3 d2 w% W
* `6 V+ [2 l6 c' PAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We " j# y# k% f- A2 G" p
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
' a* V; A; Z" W' W. W+ \$ l0 v( k. S. qhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but - N2 @. `) e( l$ D. t
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
. U" }, M5 U% [8 B- ^ D- c8 }8 areturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits 0 U) }, B" f/ i( [; ~/ X
and not merely obstruct.
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
+ w& Y* `- F7 g K* jthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
* p s7 }. c4 x' gadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we ) n+ [* L& y" `* @: f! q: m9 j$ A
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not , ~5 P$ f; D0 d
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
; H8 \ k* Z; H, C7 X. twill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
) f1 w4 d" P9 ^9 I' K+ GDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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8 o6 V) q. }8 F- \3 gMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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