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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
( Z E! l3 d% D6 {Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on 4 |: Z, o; N* o2 P2 T3 x; q9 n
the merits.
8 f3 V4 i1 Z$ [7 f8 sBy David Boies 1 C: g1 R% @5 k( `! Y Z# G+ T
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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; m' x3 `, j+ E% |6 [% M" M/ t4 {& EEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 0 D& o+ v+ o4 K6 T
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. + G S) q6 L/ @ `' P/ p
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
% E9 |5 N5 V) w% D- |+ HAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president - w2 b0 l1 P5 s. s6 t/ _. i
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to & \0 F% i( R% w: }5 ~
address. , R% b% Y% [, G5 l
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 5 F5 r7 R* S- g8 m
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
* K9 Q: B- \" |% n6 b' \: s9 Unuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence ! ?1 ?; K8 L# u; e& D
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
! a/ w5 g* R1 I; b( _; B7 nTrump began the current military campaign. 9 U b' Y& @/ I, m7 L. D
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous , N2 t% S& [* O
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
$ {* K$ X+ C4 T8 ]" A9 Bnow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 2 I7 y9 |5 W+ @* A! D7 [
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. : E: B. h* _4 b
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste 3 h/ }! Z Q" F5 }8 O
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
4 B( j! H3 M$ {$ w0 [3 ^$ N# Rseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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( q7 u) i% e8 E& IObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
9 x% }% _1 D" I6 A“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
0 w0 r* T8 ^/ F! ?2 P" Yand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how ' d1 m- `- A, l |$ {+ v* x! @
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been5 l- H% u) [9 ^% H, t1 i
to permit them to increase further. 9 ^0 e \9 g; o
4 i! M) @. i' X. V+ n% yFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve 3 l9 G6 _3 d& w G q
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 5 @: B9 G# ~) b! _' N5 q
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
1 z6 _3 J- ?2 v. {/ B ~understand. 1 S D; j/ H) f5 {9 _1 n4 E
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the " ]8 r4 J0 O. c9 ~: u
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
& l8 g" e2 ?" C. u1 j0 N5 Qfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
9 j, v- x9 J) X1 h+ s. v+ L8 u$ j( pthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One 8 M) d7 j+ Z; m7 [
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or 3 J0 i1 ]5 U3 [
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, ( J! x t5 u7 Y7 J/ e
to devastate a city. 8 t9 }; M- ~/ @* c
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel 7 k, q- z, ^) ]$ D# `
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. , ]8 Y3 H8 v% l7 X: m* t) v
0 E3 b0 ?& R0 ^* f, A& mWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition 5 W, ]8 t/ {$ O. h+ C# ~
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
& ]0 T2 T: M( R- `3 ]at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a ' a% r+ x0 W* `% {+ A" G
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice # h7 l, |% N, G
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
, } b# s7 k, Z+ m/ h9 U; k, [history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. & [" Q% Y0 p ?+ u9 C/ Y' `
8 o& z' J j3 p% L/ y# Y7 J8 c) MMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the ! D8 O; |$ N$ s& J. \* M
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
/ Q0 L5 V0 n0 m) \Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in % Z0 a3 L: _- u& \
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in * \. d w/ l9 v6 ] |/ x4 {2 B# S
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably 6 r& C% \" L# t! M
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
7 ^* L- E, D! J" Qalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
7 `0 n& t% x4 epresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—. F# \: L* l4 t. s- W; m% Z
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
* O, h: R2 S1 R+ K; zwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
3 e7 L, M( D/ Y5 v* z1 delected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
+ T. t5 N' {, R1 E" D6 dwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the $ X: H, P. K0 d& f! M
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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8 a3 x! I. ^2 k$ J. X oTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
7 R! G. u% J) u) @2 Vcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
9 o) J: B3 Y. h; e2 \, V- Tresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. - Y% E) o' s- N! @
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
4 ~+ a0 Z* C+ X2 gextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those % i5 y/ d* Q4 L- y
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to 8 A) ~3 Q5 @# U! n1 s
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
5 E" P) J- B% Z( uowe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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5 U4 \; }, n! OIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the 6 D. o% \7 o* K" P
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we # W2 A. \: S4 s2 p' Y6 h
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
( D/ C, d9 _( j% T9 sfor it. ) |: q9 d/ t4 V' O& l2 o3 X5 e
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We 7 K% \2 _: n/ ~1 b0 |9 `( Y' G
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
0 P& C Y4 |' \- _had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but & R# O; H# q) c1 z C [* V1 ~) \
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will 3 n8 [- x O4 {4 i+ m
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits 2 t- K0 A1 T# p+ E' \
and not merely obstruct. ! `. Z0 K8 S! [3 w2 }6 K/ }2 ]
/ x/ ^# \: [4 D& M+ }If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
: V# Q6 ?' `) H3 Bthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or 6 D( v! m- D! F
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
6 \# z7 `4 y' u3 Y# \want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not + h; Y8 K5 b0 a! B6 C% E
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
4 |8 b' |; Z s0 O" r( \will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
$ s* q' {! R' f. \3 I9 a9 \Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. ' `6 P! G9 c4 X6 D2 A9 B3 e
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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