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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America - _# z L- K6 A/ Q1 h$ T* g9 K
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
, ?) L# G! M, k( g7 R5 W) E' n* v/ m6 |the merits.
a/ y/ H, v* G; P) VBy David Boies
3 K. V) {* x# }- b/ c; KMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that + G' n- \1 X, @1 ?$ h2 F* n& M
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. 6 K6 N/ H6 k. L1 X7 \3 U
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
3 N5 g# z, Z* i, |American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
* W7 T8 Y0 V) r$ Tleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to : D; v7 d( i; ]
address.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 0 p3 S. ]" _& k s+ Y2 D
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
6 j6 B+ B" r, rnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
! V" `/ _- Z" Dthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. - W# @% b3 s6 L7 }" m1 |
Trump began the current military campaign. 0 G( w3 Y- u7 D0 F0 W6 Z
$ x% b, @# P- i2 W( qIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
2 I. p& t* {& A5 f: b/ n5 Cchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles % ?6 c- J2 ?6 c k
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York ; p( ^( L; j& Z) L9 K+ L. U
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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8 R& L, s+ X; X* r: |6 PNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
0 s9 P# k3 f0 ]' M5 O. qtreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action 4 r2 ^* R. o6 M& I- D- { o6 }0 [
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? + N6 s) s6 \8 `! q/ Y5 h: I
' c* p6 p% S1 i! H/ m, [! ^Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear # V1 U+ D5 }8 q5 d$ l3 ^1 z6 D5 R
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons ' B9 _0 F: K. H, L% ~
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how 1 b* Z& N) w2 T2 _
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been3 a; ]7 V: L# r) x7 v1 @
to permit them to increase further. + D# d( v! H$ ]# a0 x
v, z* i6 C+ z" k) O+ w/ g
For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve * E" j$ d# M+ m7 K j( J. J: H
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
6 n) X* P- L- ^3 }# s( g1 Xsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders + Y" X1 M0 D+ @" n& F- Y
understand.
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
- g8 d/ B1 r' J: o$ I! [- {4 ZRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the ' V/ K+ [/ \# Z
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because ; o0 W7 K& R4 a' b
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
* E( U6 G' K% R# jhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or ! y" K' E5 G# W( R" _) q2 V
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, ( R; Y+ `1 B5 {1 l1 h& r
to devastate a city. 1 F W2 u9 d/ }+ A, v
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
1 F' u3 n, T% u, r: p8 a. S( Q: w. U% Rand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
# ? @' f1 J T9 k0 \2 ~7 F. Nrooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
5 |! A& f3 x N' k. O& oat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
% |( d+ e" t Z) o9 X' Vpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
1 @4 O& e, o- L+ CPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 9 ^5 ]* i6 Q- P
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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/ ~% F" }: L' P$ T/ R& w- bMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
" O; u( Q9 v6 P$ @* j- Gmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many ) G, a. C( V6 e3 M. [8 T7 j+ h
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
2 r t3 D2 e; m: H/ g1 t& @, f- h% [9 T% mAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in # v2 I% J+ G" G4 i* X# A
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably % X+ {0 \! b8 |5 c# M; G8 W
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 ' v+ D I: r* v) H
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
! @7 M0 [& P4 D# ^president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
- @ i! x; o9 v* M r# yeven if it means a loss for America. 7 j8 l2 G5 l5 n! k
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
* f2 k" E' z2 O0 Hwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was 1 z \# n0 a! V$ i5 a6 s
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman 4 V& q a( K3 P {# o% `; Q
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
* A- n, z6 _/ S `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
' c- b; _* k3 ~5 A" H! Hcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 7 q; t0 x+ e3 Q* o6 U: _# r
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
# s" A- R9 H9 Y, X! PRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
; ?8 M9 X S# S# nextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those & m2 \2 j& X" {6 _+ A
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to 1 g- N6 e' y7 k1 g8 z+ @
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we - l$ L0 r4 K2 B- X
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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8 R5 u/ h9 K) B6 g; KIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the ' a$ I8 U1 K. S0 U. @+ m3 {
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
5 ^; Y- P8 j$ r, jgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse . r( ^0 {8 w! X1 {9 ]
for it.
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We ( G P: q- Z. I' H5 f
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action ( v( }3 Z3 ^0 r2 l$ o
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
, t6 D2 X4 }# Ymaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
2 p" j, Y& y2 t( I4 `; ]3 oreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits ' K2 |3 P' q% X, k
and not merely obstruct.
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- P% ]8 N0 E0 iIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on , I8 @% u; z' w4 _1 D) x
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
7 J, p/ @2 ~$ R. Y/ }$ D5 z& \admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
! N$ Z5 J8 E- Kwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
# |+ O; K* v5 B4 i4 Z8 U+ |because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they / j, G4 V' J2 ~3 A
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the & t+ o3 |" X) b i0 D5 |
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. ! f1 M4 L; j* J. m. m O; u! _
# l3 i# a3 S* b/ R% GMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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