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 1 |4 B" }& n% p
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
; M' O8 b' V$ O/ H1 Kthe merits. 9 A/ d1 N1 _) i2 H: A" n
By David Boies
( X; k* N7 E, t* dMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that ( V$ Q# T( c' K/ E7 {0 d% c% F
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
" k* X. q" `* J5 Q4 LEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
0 J" c1 H5 n( D. {! U' U/ m# hAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
. S9 D& o" g3 X2 aleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to 5 c( P9 a) b$ F
address.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt - v6 u" n1 D3 P1 Y' X! w
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 7 y) P" |- o* L; x1 A
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
0 C: W5 p' r2 _8 G# Y8 f- W6 Jthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
' C, u+ w5 s; i0 e3 `4 e1 v+ ~Trump began the current military campaign.
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- W7 k5 f; H. QIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
& M# c. |3 E e6 }% a2 }( o" P8 qchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles ' R8 R& q. b" I6 L: j% E
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
8 G8 W& y7 T6 u" V7 J" u( v' mor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. 3 a; k1 ]6 E- q o4 l1 r& |) a/ P
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste $ E! `5 O: l: J; `0 F: [- ]. @
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action " ~1 T0 n( S% n1 i& [0 D
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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8 p. U) ]* R& S! J: [ |Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
& W" w/ {6 S+ a; s“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons 3 p* i; h8 Q8 D$ U1 M9 X
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how " P6 d. T$ J' [
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been5 H% u- E7 p. @3 x3 e
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
6 \% V" N9 r& Ktried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
, J$ F' B8 j7 y7 ^. L# ]sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders / R* I4 {" v0 @, r* N6 a
understand.
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
& i& d9 Y+ R. i4 z( P& R' hRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
, i( N* K; ^% |- }. ^9 ^fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because ! I% ~' j+ m3 C5 w$ w& j
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One & S7 r/ e0 B* Q3 m5 W* O1 B9 e% Y
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
& G+ o3 y* p/ ?7 a0 odirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, 0 m9 ]7 h( D+ z* v7 |3 D. R
to devastate a city. ! s$ T7 h) h, [: Q- S
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
: ]9 V# z- q% }3 `" Vand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. : g, W! U' w- @2 L4 L" S4 f
* f$ A5 b+ x9 S+ q- {What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
" x; ^6 f$ J' h% \- I. yrooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
2 [6 x6 q/ X+ M; u# M0 Sat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 5 t. J% q Y7 ~# q6 \; \( C6 I
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
- f6 M2 J3 M% e8 p: [3 |President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
, [* A. t! q9 A7 chistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the J5 P6 ~) Y6 D6 ^
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many % ?8 E1 h: E) q3 S7 _! u5 ]
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in # c# f. Q* }+ O; C1 H# W
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in $ D3 w* c9 i9 h6 j/ t s+ P
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
) p& R0 P R2 B4 \3 B5 t8 i, Rsupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 8 K7 \0 x# _ h, S, w S$ E$ q
3 C* d# i+ R* {$ ~5 C
More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
C$ |8 [8 M# u0 ^/ xalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
" `- X% X: n$ i. W' _9 w) ^+ ]president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—% Y/ B! v6 B/ i4 V7 h
even if it means a loss for America.
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It ! C E) i$ a* ^0 o, u8 H3 q
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
* q. u; Z9 Z' x+ q) b8 w& belected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
7 d9 [: ?+ Z% u+ ?" \7 K$ E, jwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
3 Z( Z7 x k! k; w0 Y% J0 F% a6 hpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
' ^. L. b5 m* ^, Z& @( t0 ]4 ?7 Ccontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 5 D9 h3 W' O# A' I
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
2 \* q' t. F8 W pRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and * y' E" s* ^ v3 n/ j1 \0 Z5 d
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
H. X7 p }0 n' vof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
! d* `: p% y4 F3 e; _; ]support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
1 ?% ^9 p( d2 s& a6 Qowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. ' L* H& S' A# A2 N2 e2 ~
9 }3 t4 I3 v4 r& w9 a9 K; L sIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
1 Y7 O7 a, J2 ymission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
+ Q/ W: ^8 ?) b9 Fgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse e6 d* H$ U: j t. {
for it. 3 ^' {& Q0 h8 E) z4 h9 S
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
' _' D& O9 a) L% W( v7 ADemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
0 i4 h" j; I! L, ~& Nhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
. S |) O0 o/ vmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
! ~& D. k# r% O, Ureturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
+ q2 H8 o# p# l, O- l' x. zand not merely obstruct.
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6 P; A" m0 F) C5 J0 KIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on 5 p" l8 O/ \/ J. S' L
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
) n0 ]5 b Z/ |. W! X$ T! Ladmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
, j$ ]9 y4 m* @- ~3 Nwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not 4 e. d0 V6 K' W# v# ?* R6 p7 e& b* j
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they * C' ~' D. _+ g0 f/ ]6 r& }
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the ' _1 C: z5 P w) _( A) ?: V
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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