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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America 5 L! w; T. ^. }5 |' C1 |) X
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on 4 i( J% E( W+ d8 J! H
the merits.
+ a( H) k6 n7 `$ E5 T4 |( ?1 wBy David Boies
8 }0 W' s$ T j, pMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET 7 u3 o1 q0 g$ h7 |6 C- O
) e" N6 M3 K) y/ UEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
$ u& s+ e! P- {Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. % E _6 i) Y0 H3 q- H
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
' a7 E0 N1 i# H" r8 gAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
/ A" M0 @+ \8 r+ G1 _left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to 2 p# G( U/ @; u3 R7 _: |
address.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt - R: h/ g {/ l, v; x3 R- P% ~
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
8 T, F4 M" @- O, Onuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
9 a+ P% i6 r- Hthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. / h) H9 ^" l/ ?/ E" C
Trump began the current military campaign. ; b) @' x) {' `# A4 Y4 J4 h
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
/ W/ i; K: C! jchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles : H- v/ P5 ~( G$ B3 l
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York $ Z1 }8 C7 F: S8 v% g
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste & z+ D# j7 B0 H( e8 @) a
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action " y$ P) C8 e" m# ]
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
. ?0 L: m3 K* ]; f“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
. e, I0 I. n. X7 cand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
1 |0 A4 K8 {* m' Q; f# Q& x; ~: |4 [8 Imuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been5 f4 t2 L/ M! B3 O* t
to permit them to increase further. $ E X0 k/ g0 t. O" u! Y2 Z. s
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve - _% w& U4 D$ t: `: u3 S
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 9 N3 V* x3 @( d
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
/ u4 A" |$ {: ~2 \% qunderstand.
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5 G. Z N8 Z8 l. q HI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
# w0 u* x( o7 d6 y- LRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
7 v% l, E; v3 nfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
u( [( V1 g Q+ j/ [3 p6 L9 m% ~they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One ' m5 c+ U8 l' E
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or " P+ O4 S; j% l, C: L9 ?' D
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, - X/ D0 w# p9 K: i `& S
to devastate a city.
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel ' q2 ?: A, m" p( }+ S. Y
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. 0 H/ M/ F- Y+ S1 |
* i- S! n8 \6 a4 ^: hWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition ! o( B( k* V1 v
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
9 J/ v0 B x5 N* C$ qat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a * ?) P* } P0 D: t2 ]2 `" X
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
E4 X. s# T5 w$ r( R: U" GPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 0 g* r+ Z0 m$ V- s0 e2 E$ G3 `8 f
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. $ z) G7 o$ K# ~$ R
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
6 h1 _, A+ W# v9 {military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
; M/ j# \3 u+ V+ [5 v. S4 x% ?Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in 3 p3 A# u! a7 v& g+ r
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
, w: _! a' e: L9 X2 }8 k9 PAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably . q/ d* @1 L Y) z/ |: z, L
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. % F8 s4 K8 z: I9 s3 K/ f
f Y! b1 U0 k' r; ^; WMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
% m! j0 [3 V' t" S* u% D( Lalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 4 y1 X. E% O- @9 G# `# t
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—/ E4 y0 |' R+ {7 e; O6 r3 e
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 ( L9 Z M1 w$ n
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was ) R1 k6 o# W! P9 D& v; a* ^& r
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
" z) M( p& G4 Y, w7 X% h# R3 W. V, Kwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the & D/ M% H" e6 ~& `
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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/ r- s: c/ c: q6 rTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
$ W6 l( r5 u" ~- d1 R6 j( Vcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
% q- f5 B' i1 F9 C& ]5 fresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. 9 Y* d6 o6 f* ~ s
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
# G: f' ?$ T$ k o$ Pextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
X4 W9 k+ v6 c6 O1 sof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
! |8 c9 U0 m) Q3 E2 G9 isupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
. I9 N/ s% K1 @owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. * W) h( h& u/ g, @8 I
% A) T$ ]3 c0 @0 B, T- k9 _ iIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
1 t1 R1 V" Q4 x V, Umission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
2 O$ E! c5 U; j. q' p, ]generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
# L* }. f! `+ Tfor it. 2 l$ N3 x" k0 S( C* l6 @8 P% e
* b" X" _3 P* J1 Q3 mAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
. I; f2 E% G/ i' J% m: y/ h1 | T VDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
1 z, z* k2 `& Z3 j1 Uhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
# g0 W! R$ s! m* i( X! _& U% V# [* t0 ^ ^( wmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will - A0 N9 ]% u7 m P7 ]: w
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
9 h ]0 \# M. T! J) J1 j* ?and not merely obstruct.
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4 r; L8 O; q4 o# h- W3 tIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on - \6 [4 y2 b; S, _9 B
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or 4 C$ @. L7 B- o9 S0 R
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we 1 s$ ]0 g+ N: t# F0 z+ o
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
' |- D C- n4 T1 {3 ^$ p' D! ~6 Kbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they " R' ] F' b) }' i
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the 1 K0 v; m1 X! F& ?* |
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 4 |4 ?+ \" C* U* ~
! D; q; T, V7 f; K/ O* p3 OMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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