TA的每日心情 | 擦汗 2026-3-17 22:01 |
|---|
签到天数: 1133 天 [LV.10]大乘
|
沙发

楼主 |
发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
|
只看该作者
Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America , @# a; C( W c# I. x
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on : Y& o$ y5 o5 m5 w' {+ k
the merits. + m7 W* ?9 r( W8 r! S9 P
By David Boies 6 D% B, ?' U+ o, ~4 U; i
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET 1 F p7 m% y( r7 v, K
' [8 U" v+ j7 U" ~9 D/ i" @7 MEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that - c! O# \ b7 O. F' J
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. 9 g, J5 X6 ?- J# ]0 W" J
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against , j0 q* ? i) `
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
( h, m8 r. L3 ` r' W! k1 `5 u* Oleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to 3 l5 x* N6 |# w3 d7 K1 m7 j
address. : |- Y% t$ u; |
$ M5 t7 |, K$ P( J' _Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
) _9 F- n+ S* ZIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
* W8 q( D( a1 ]nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
; x( Z# F, V1 L* \that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
% h" N) @6 C! o9 m9 PTrump began the current military campaign.
$ Z* P: H8 X, R( ~; u( D7 ^8 ?( y9 y/ g# h! C7 u/ _% v3 ]/ I
If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous . q. g) A% C9 S |; B
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles : e; x" Z# {% x5 p
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
1 v* \' L `/ w$ P" N. D* x: h$ n5 ^or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
" i) @: H- O. n* O5 I2 f
[, O: j& M/ _No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
1 B+ p+ [6 O3 W) ntreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action - A0 Z6 [* w. j1 n+ X" Q7 v
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? * G2 H! _/ a' I* S! B
% i# [' ^/ ^$ `
Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear D- _1 |" f: o: e
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
: a* M: W9 M0 S# `! _3 k* v7 kand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how ) a" s& {5 T6 i! e: m
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been% U5 @: ]7 L# E ~$ c
to permit them to increase further.
2 t" B. t% J+ Y( Q
9 N; X+ d, a" V9 _$ A; b' [/ i: KFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
, m4 j$ f' H# O3 W. ]tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
# Y( F& [+ L% fsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders ! b, E! S% \. }, k0 i6 @5 j9 u6 j8 r
understand.
|5 i% r0 N3 T7 D' t* I( k7 E+ o- F
: E3 l9 h0 o; {/ k5 iI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the # B6 b4 m, C/ `: g
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the - y8 t. D. F* h- [5 H' m/ d( x
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
9 i3 O" V3 i2 I& J' }& P: G1 Qthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
9 q( }# S j; N ~5 A) B2 B" |hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
% d# w: b0 t/ l5 {* F# O, m& F$ Vdirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
& Z( W' f! S* Q) T5 p, eto devastate a city.
' Q: O5 D4 |6 g# k
G4 f X4 |" T* y3 h* YI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
0 A' l- G5 G7 ]and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. % S* d7 C) o |* l7 B8 t4 i
* r! n6 V8 O5 t" Q. h. W5 _
What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
- G& ?! \% V. a0 w9 x1 Yrooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
9 Q' t# x) Y I: S6 pat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
& u+ d v' k: [9 \: epresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice ! s* j( l: S Y7 l8 ?- {
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
2 T, ?1 }& w# q0 z! v9 Ohistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. & J( D2 D1 ?) ~0 f# {+ q' M+ p. [# u
/ h8 q, V' @# ]( c% a# h* Y3 ?
More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
9 D, S1 e4 Q9 b( o h" Q7 bmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
. H U! Q5 _) A6 i3 ERepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in " r8 d9 G, e0 R. {( @! y
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in - H5 y. o. M5 Q3 _. h
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably u2 `2 C, J. }3 ]+ Z
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 4 v7 ~6 B, S5 I6 a
, [! O5 J$ e. o- j2 B( R! y; lMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
/ ^* Y* e1 r( c8 n0 Calmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
/ d8 o; i1 {) h+ K' ^president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—* a! W( i$ O8 X6 [# s
even if it means a loss for America. 0 [7 @! a* r5 d# y% D
6 a. u9 J, w$ _ g' M+ y6 j: z+ hWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It * s1 a2 J! f# m# ^9 O$ \8 s, v8 i% c5 C
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
0 m8 z7 G- Z' T0 C" `3 y0 {elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman 2 i2 b, I6 t9 q0 W! i
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
! r: |6 z2 K' H- P6 l3 y" o4 cpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. 8 k% n, r% Y5 }; M: B
/ r3 N3 y- {2 Q; g! p8 iTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
- R, l' E$ e! q% ^* acontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
( H2 G* I7 Q# i/ [result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
( d+ O3 t( B' a+ D+ fRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and / Y! Q$ n8 i3 _) K6 Y2 g9 [
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
6 h( l6 s: t- \8 c/ fof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
7 V% d$ R) Q- e( \4 f1 R- Ssupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
: p, Q1 c9 L# }owe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
4 C, ^& I! v0 g$ @9 T! G e! e. F% W2 I( a' Z+ ]
If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
7 K0 o0 i" ?% W2 nmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
0 J! C( `- q* N# ngenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
! G3 J" w; u) l! Ifor it. # X* U% }- x* o1 m3 \( E2 x0 \ n; R
% G) H, g: q: v
America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
4 J K$ t/ _+ w! B- z, bDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action + K3 T) K. ^8 E
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but ( _. W b r7 @9 ~
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
' w7 Y& u3 y3 C: Q& k! yreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
7 b& w. Z* I: qand not merely obstruct.
H2 w0 e9 s6 L6 I6 E
9 d& O( e6 |7 B: G9 XIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on % Y, i- D5 t8 a1 ?
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or / H u; |; P- k2 s D
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
) c) ~( l% C7 m# u _ n7 m! z0 Kwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not 1 \5 z- m5 f8 M+ h* k
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 4 I. \2 q7 P! J% Q. v
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the ( Z. A7 }0 e) f6 E. l H- t
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 4 D3 U* `5 C& [5 G% Y
" B/ H5 L% I, Q5 i @6 e% o, |
Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
|