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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
8 V4 T* c @: X% l6 J4 B) |1 _5 zTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
, K, h. }7 P4 _2 i7 P+ u) ]- Pthe merits. 3 R. x6 ]) H5 P& j/ o
By David Boies
5 _7 {, T2 w& z# q" \. \" wMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 7 p8 v( G* w- \9 A3 A {
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. 8 U& G: U2 Y1 [. ]8 z0 X4 S
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
% p" z* _8 ?0 ]2 X/ [' ~American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
( k: a+ n5 U: `) H" Yleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to & g9 q8 [& }3 R7 i
address.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
( E" H) E8 l3 K) I3 mIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 6 p4 ^& P% n0 H6 k6 S( I
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence & u8 ^+ L t# j2 w: D S9 J3 Q
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. ( W" d* K, r( j2 l
Trump began the current military campaign. ! u7 B; ]; \9 n$ L+ x
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
9 T3 |+ z) q8 T0 \ A# Jchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles : U' E; _: O8 {
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 9 g! Y3 `* G; {/ ?2 x
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. ) t d) @; ]% J
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste + b4 S, W! x3 T* ~
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action ) N) @7 f7 {. l; B- `
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? 7 {- v1 b R8 |) n
- V% @- D; ]- PObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
4 n2 r I( u3 X8 B“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
+ a2 b+ V% B, a- C4 F# Vand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how . E; [8 k) o" V1 p3 O6 w
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
9 q i& a4 n" W# N+ G$ k; Vto permit them to increase further. 7 E% k1 q H w: c. V0 P8 z/ _5 r
& ]! j# Y$ d; I* R8 `5 A% j% ]For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve 7 Z5 A9 G* ^) b4 V8 U' V
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 6 v! R8 l/ h: _
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders - K5 h& O6 K* p# n/ G( S6 C
understand.
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# v8 K" `! Q6 X+ GI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
9 u" }$ Q: Q' o! NRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the ' F! b& e v6 |# Q2 F
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
; M4 e) K8 b* E ?5 [they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One ) B$ q7 Q' q1 a1 b: z) X
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or ) e1 V7 }8 C) _$ a% ~6 P
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, r# C1 P- J' P& `: ?) d, s" j D7 g" \
to devastate a city. ! S; P5 T6 G3 O2 |" {+ H# M
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel 6 _, N; ?( a: O1 R
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. ' A0 _( s$ B+ _2 @
# i3 o( E9 z0 [# C4 {6 n: C) Z) jWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition 4 E% ^$ p5 ^" H6 n+ o# r( V
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops / v t1 n6 M8 b9 q" F: q3 K" o/ ~
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a ; _% p( A2 @6 p: l
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice ) o T- C8 O% E R
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
$ P) o7 w# p7 E8 l4 Nhistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. , |- ]- @/ Q' @/ t. t5 E$ ~
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the & J( O( ~2 T. c( p& U t) y
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
|5 L7 Q5 O9 \1 m) xRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in ; S; i6 C w: {, Z; v! K
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
: S8 o. c7 h, J* C6 A1 eAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably ) ]0 O. M2 z8 v& J( p% q1 h4 q
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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& ]) o+ _5 K- E2 u, n1 E9 wMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
, N3 y, n# ~& r2 R7 t9 Oalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the * E3 r3 Y& E1 W# ^7 A7 ?8 {- ?; G" W
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
3 e* f: [! `" J) Veven if it means a loss for America.
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5 H7 P: z1 P& d! D, s& q7 [When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It P2 [- w- q ?) m
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was # |" m5 t* ]$ ?
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
! n3 O' Q: E% D; B! s+ L- Q4 m% owas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
0 u8 Z3 r9 l9 v3 y A) w: Wpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. - D' x8 P0 J5 w
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
% P% b1 S) V% k0 u0 ccontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the # ?: Y5 v& i3 S# J" y
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
$ f& r* c+ Q% s) RRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and & e1 M# F( n/ }7 R S4 b5 p
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those , u& S# a ]5 h+ _) q6 [
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to : v3 C! m" Z/ v2 E) F! ?
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we : g- [- h: y% K
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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! T; r, F% ^1 \If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
% v* _; h4 o: `mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we 1 u* w5 r ~. V7 i+ C& g
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse , A% ?8 W \$ f. A: N
for it.
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: T+ c9 g( a/ E; ?& h/ d4 `America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We % X! t3 v" c0 o: R! ?
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action ( Z1 R- n7 s* `9 Z
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but : S# t! w4 K2 S( i' B4 z6 t
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
$ v; A" x4 Z ^return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
* C8 y1 @1 |2 E! s+ ~1 Band not merely obstruct. 4 F) {1 e1 X, V, @, R1 q- q# |" `, y' h+ [
+ w( Q% Y/ K; _9 ]4 ~9 |; sIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on - a9 e+ L+ t$ h u. v! r; @ E
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or " w7 K4 `/ D% R2 P. D
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
( X5 Y) }- o0 t( [* Q8 q) p: o, w% n; kwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not " b' b4 a$ P4 r/ _2 ^; n |# u- z: s
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
7 h4 m4 J8 X4 k( Dwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the : x. ^ D; x5 B% {
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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