TA的每日心情 | 擦汗 2026-3-17 22:01 |
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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
- x8 W3 e2 v9 z, ^7 ~Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on & s8 k! I7 N, [: \- t) x
the merits. ]. b. E4 w1 @# Q- W$ m
By David Boies . L Q4 ]9 R+ }9 _0 _* P
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
- Y2 l: g* a' Q3 i. N* lIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
. f6 h5 A5 F# g2 I2 EEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
" ]5 j) m3 }4 tAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
. n4 S% a0 P( e, g# l1 oleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to $ i0 o8 E& C. e6 g, @
address.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt ) O. L- N l& }3 X* V( _" v7 ?, c
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 8 }4 E: ~* q+ V6 E2 x! n, K
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence : U/ x$ u# h" y; g
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
' i, J, R: ~/ }2 {& S/ KTrump began the current military campaign. ( ]: x$ ?8 {1 J
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
3 s5 D# V# G8 N. G! pchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 1 C/ y" a: B$ J
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 5 x* y/ ~& |8 [$ e7 m+ g
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. l6 {, A; }5 Z2 [
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
/ H3 P" x& H" }( z; ttreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
8 Z1 o% f8 v; ]0 P7 }$ Yseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? ' e V8 S- j( b7 }
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear y" [: d/ X# N' m
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
, j0 ]! ?5 D% kand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how 0 ?! N B+ I6 x; L! T8 a: R- ?
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
' {6 F* I7 W; c7 l$ g; |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 / v* V) L+ L r$ n
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 2 g8 e, B- O, n: r' b
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
% g- w6 _( v+ Nunderstand. 7 b/ z" n# t- b4 N s: y, K1 O
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
& \4 v( Q2 ~5 z; ]) ~Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
7 E- t7 ^ O$ H" g6 X6 |fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
8 t% O! U% O1 t2 @6 sthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
: {, s! X- ?5 p! F( Rhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
- r: k, B- ^1 o0 z/ n. rdirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
% ?. B# e8 X" |, a$ K* vto devastate a city.
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel 1 t2 S7 ?4 L& C
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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! f0 P2 l& t3 q6 PWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition P$ ~1 S7 V d; a; @
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
- y4 J. s8 l: Z# K, }at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
( {- c3 S/ b" Q! a$ }% o0 M+ Tpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
1 Z8 p$ w0 C9 gPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 7 w! o7 E6 s V- d8 Z6 w
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. , G! k# Q/ n4 a2 |% W* p) @
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
' k \4 w/ }! D0 E {4 g3 Q+ a3 Pmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many $ m( k$ I, _; _# G; ?0 G* Z* ?( b" S
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
8 U" H; f+ G$ S' ?4 }) qAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in : }3 m3 r8 \# Q! v! @' u& y- @9 [
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
8 N3 q1 z3 b9 |* } a/ R ^supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. . C/ N" i+ v3 y1 p, \
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
1 }4 D+ ^& ]" _$ Q. Galmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
/ d# K9 K3 P+ K! v* U0 w+ vpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
$ { z# T- y7 `even if it means a loss for America.
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* m. f9 }; L6 B; I1 b! W1 U$ oWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
0 H% L; X2 w9 m4 r, J( ewas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
. }" x/ M* z0 _elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
; v7 [: v/ }+ e/ t! e8 Nwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the 3 t7 J: a/ x: F& L! N, o# s; a
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to # e y: G. x, X; u5 u
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
0 P* A( t) t# L6 A8 cresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
% _: v- _4 |; e6 m) sRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and 4 l8 u7 t6 S+ Z/ t- h2 _# I; j
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those 4 n! a' O8 U% z9 f% L
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to 8 T; K5 j. M3 j, a7 {' z
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
( q- p1 \3 K, K5 h' u; ]owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 1 v5 c3 [* O; v4 ]# c
C/ Q8 u5 o) x3 |( y5 u6 UIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
2 k* d. B# X3 f# ]3 z4 [4 \+ f5 Jmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we : k% k4 Z; X1 c% C6 r
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
! x9 U9 a' g% c ufor it.
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We ' J/ i2 d* z/ s, P( J0 P4 ]
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
, i6 Z) R8 b4 U+ zhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but " I$ B- G5 T$ I! Q+ {
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will ! v' ` L4 [( ]0 q$ E$ S
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits ) L6 A4 y7 u8 G) |9 V9 S! Z z- j
and not merely obstruct. 0 d |% _7 g$ Y3 b
8 U! t$ N. y/ l5 ?/ O$ `If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
- E3 Q" H; B. u/ j8 _5 k" fthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
4 h, L1 m! M4 {' h! fadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
, z: ?2 t7 `3 f% W1 v& |3 zwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
; V* A% u8 l7 {' V+ ^because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 1 L- w4 @& p" w5 W# T
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
2 l: d% T( l7 w1 @* a9 sDemocrat 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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