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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America - { Z4 ~6 Y8 j; D) m& i8 U% Z9 Y
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
! w' k6 ]$ |- V& _' B) m( qthe merits. % b" K$ J! o" K! f
By David Boies + {; o! N- C; t
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET # v7 C* T$ }8 F
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that & y3 c8 O* \7 I5 a# [1 {( L4 _' ?
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
- ^% a/ O. d/ m4 i5 QEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
3 _7 l- ? u! Z) c7 t4 h& e1 ~American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president # V# e8 r9 u' v* e! R& V
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to ; N) j7 c# m% O+ \% H3 h
address. ( `) v0 I# i. {" T( N- C( Z( f, J
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt - G. p3 `: C$ w' Z. E
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its + T7 _) g7 h5 h, B7 Q
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
7 i4 l+ W _) x5 E! k% ]' cthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
! P7 u( I6 a! e4 Y* U6 Y" gTrump began the current military campaign. 1 j$ d( _/ h0 a6 Q$ Q
4 e9 U5 m* U/ N* W: mIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous ! Q: N: i; Z# `" g* O+ }
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 7 p& P& v! `# O% x* p- P
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
" A% @: \' c& Z# ?; p1 Oor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. - _# i4 u7 D* T9 j0 U8 n+ Y
. N; e& P e2 B( Q; hNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
1 g+ q. x0 R) R' etreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
4 F. q- V! f6 z/ Nseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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) g% _% B( ]& M4 @0 c4 F2 BObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear & Z1 O( G; D! F$ g, U4 B
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
. L# R7 f- I# z1 band the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
9 Z% n' U) v, Q3 q$ y- e; ]6 y" ?much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been7 N9 I/ k, p8 K
to permit them to increase further. & U6 D" C; f9 s
+ z* y( m1 C7 t R4 hFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve 7 o4 _% d# S# i$ j4 Z; c
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic . h3 D0 U' f6 t
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
% E! ?: \8 n- r; S! F' ]& T' funderstand. - D( _- }! w, J( B. {
' ?5 M; Q6 [# a E& r3 I3 \0 II understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 2 a0 @! @ ~ q, @( V: s
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 0 B, n" m7 l, {" T/ |
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
* E- Y2 [* u8 H5 l- {( }3 ^they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
+ S, Y* t6 I8 W5 S! _) A+ ^( m+ Thundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or $ s; y' v$ }! [. f* _
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
4 F) i$ ?( j4 U$ h/ _2 r7 jto devastate a city. / j6 A6 o- d D; ^. O" D+ D
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
7 k7 B w3 u! E- Band Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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" O* i- Q: d- _. P' W8 ]$ O; sWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
& ]7 `- Q* C3 j' a1 P) V' J, Urooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops . c$ h+ P7 {/ r
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a # y# s% _8 Q) ?/ }4 U: ]
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
5 P; P }* D/ d2 b8 t& ZPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
* x1 l9 j$ |( ?8 s! t/ Jhistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. . _! B! |7 b% j* ^7 i. ]% f; K8 i
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
6 }$ a- M& }# G! D# y* Y- ]& mmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
1 W+ k" ]4 X; ?# URepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in ) M4 B& y1 ~& N
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
2 o( ~; C8 @8 i! V2 V, I, XAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
* `* T% H t0 ?supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 1 V% p1 X" t# D' _
$ b5 y e8 |0 W5 HMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we ( K q3 b7 {0 U. ~! Z5 p0 _/ J
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
4 y: j6 Q) e" D4 U3 tpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
6 t1 W8 r9 |+ jeven if it means a loss for America. . }2 J6 }' O$ X9 u% f F; f( l
" ?" m: w6 i7 k/ r5 s! o6 O# QWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It % n Z+ w" z# L! S! J g% @/ @% x
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was . h, w$ z9 G7 L" A7 Y! F
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman $ i3 ~2 _$ ~2 Y: B! H- Z) t. [$ V
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
1 ?& r4 ]) G8 L0 K+ ypopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. 2 X8 }/ y4 U: X2 n! w2 j
! E. n3 F7 ~5 U n3 t! lTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
. G& y; M. ~0 a2 R% i% Fcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 7 O" Y! C k2 Z, j& F8 z
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. ! c) [- Q* R. N* f2 a
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
9 V$ V' b r0 n: sextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those / `6 i' Q6 a9 z, z
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
" U+ s. ~/ B' r. k4 @" Nsupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we , q9 T0 J$ n, M# T3 y5 F. D
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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0 E, d7 U4 o/ ]: @! qIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the $ a( A) v$ _( |1 Y/ E" H, |) I
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
# H" i4 }2 @7 g: B- E qgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse % {. g j$ C' w0 o2 F
for it.
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9 y7 H9 W- [9 z! U3 U* s' v, O3 _America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
* @8 u. l$ `' @9 F$ Y4 fDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action : W! T0 ?, v( Y: \ M0 P9 b
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but " e% o/ K. J' d7 p7 @' U. _5 _" ]: J
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will + r% `5 }9 j+ x1 a
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits ) n6 N1 V& s2 Y' B
and not merely obstruct. 3 p$ Q$ _/ Z0 {5 v! U1 G: k+ z
) m/ Y" `" ?) `* {! T& l0 xIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
8 u% }/ s/ u7 Q' e+ ^9 u7 D0 |this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
3 B) d0 G) @' W. i( l* K# Wadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we 6 D2 {: j! S. f" x, P; M4 L: Y% d
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
$ R7 k- B R& d/ A. J6 C4 \0 W( C3 l fbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they ( C, G$ n! b! Z; r1 a4 A
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
( T* w, q+ c4 PDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. ) K4 ?( E0 B/ R5 e) G
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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