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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America 8 M }9 b$ @- U3 U' B5 p; ?0 i& y
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on 9 a" h# ?/ _3 |9 q4 J' c+ ^
the merits.
5 _& l! F: W, `3 m& wBy David Boies ; [: {' a7 ~% Z
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET - k' h' v/ Z! T: l [$ p* E
- @, q! h; v( L7 ~( WEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 9 S7 e- |! t; h s
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. $ ?' p: ]7 B% ?4 y
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
( n/ h, x4 t3 e5 b! rAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president ( }' P u' y2 |! i8 |+ g
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
8 w3 o1 L& r5 Y0 j+ Q# n" W ]$ J3 t" P jaddress. 4 b6 l, U3 G% K' z
. C+ ?& s* d% f$ h. [) S$ SLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
. Z! ^& n% ?* mIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
' v9 q$ O7 e* F' u' Pnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
$ M ^! I! w6 n0 d* Wthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. ( T+ {2 p! Y- d) c% ~
Trump began the current military campaign.
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
7 V; ?! H% C; M: `0 K+ L. fchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 9 B7 X6 {! Q; X+ q1 `, ]
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
: `3 O. k1 g) O, Q2 `# O' u& hor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. $ V' C- t. N5 U) [2 j5 d; v
# Z( R6 x/ C. `% w: t4 F7 bNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste / \+ k& G2 H" Y% T7 X7 u
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
I, V; `3 Z. f* [' Hseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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z$ r6 T" X* c/ ^* Y% wObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear 9 H" N" B5 o5 b! g# V
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
: Y5 H0 A' e/ m6 Q) Mand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
0 |7 ^& G9 \. ?& \ P+ pmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been/ M$ _# O: w* Y1 e1 E& Z* J/ u" B
to permit them to increase further.
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8 Y# Z' K" L$ F T" g( t. @ m8 [For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
# q* [* i* r; i3 Stried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
+ j% v- z; q; G8 {( E* r- D" F; asanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
' j, r$ u& ?" K) G( h! d$ J: Qunderstand. / N, [- y6 P# n z! K0 X
T% w% T* [4 n: a! y; b; aI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 1 O; u, `7 m* f V( a& z+ V+ G' ^- k
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the / ^: R3 @3 e q) A6 J) ?2 i3 M, M; u
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
- s1 F; I& m" h0 a i5 kthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
- a* d. n$ D0 W/ Mhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
: |1 b& g) H/ L) Udirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
- D2 D& e- W( ~! @* _; h/ {9 ~to devastate a city. ) y" H2 [. Z7 ^1 ?6 x, q
1 O4 ?9 n: j& F. J! U% bI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
9 O }' m5 D0 M# o5 ~and 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 : k1 `6 w# k1 M4 B$ I5 |
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
6 e4 o7 ^! U, |# b P: e" ?6 Yat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 3 k" I. r8 r# w
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice " i5 A! t# r' I% W* {
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
" c# x9 p* s3 Chistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the * a* [, T6 Z- u0 F: l9 p3 Z
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 6 A0 F4 P8 o$ Y% T* [" Q+ ~/ d' }
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in 5 A$ D+ F* G1 b7 N4 t3 h, M
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in 7 l6 I: ^: @; D4 S: v- ~. Q
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably ! A/ v! X, `6 c
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. ( ~5 c9 d: b, o& V
7 B/ t% k, E- K _/ Q; U* O8 WMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we # \) |: e2 b9 }9 P, g+ g' T: \/ f/ J
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
9 N$ K, l$ v+ Z2 H$ Q) A: G( Gpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—- D; c' m* r6 W2 D! \' I: d6 E* x+ q
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
" X: |6 Y( P& C# }* Rwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was , ^" y0 L/ J7 ]& d, N: J0 f
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman & H8 P/ E7 q3 L2 F& {" E
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
1 x* e# l9 k$ [0 |( j' i. |4 h# epopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
n* j1 ~" x& R. Y5 I# dcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
1 Z' l* F( A) s* H \# eresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. . w8 H; z; M4 g1 b( Z& ^
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and ' a, U, r2 K# |) ^4 U4 _- y
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
5 s/ J$ I0 O" g2 Q4 vof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
' {* V) z) R' nsupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
! q) o5 H( A" l rowe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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/ x/ s" t9 d$ P X5 bIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the : j3 |) `! J0 N1 m* l, R9 F( h
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
9 D7 @1 ^! S& N$ g+ E- ~4 |0 g0 Egenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
% X0 ]! y" T" a5 w" p2 Nfor it.
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1 g, P* Z8 H$ E* y" l* O& mAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
; V7 Z- J; ^/ ]6 l: b9 e, |+ pDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
& V9 A7 `/ w& y: H" Hhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
$ z& J \0 O+ o; _maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will 7 E- R& P9 T' T5 e) ^
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
" O1 l& v2 M5 P; K- S3 Cand not merely obstruct. 2 r" O6 e/ w. }
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
3 Z' b! |* `0 _( L2 r! Rthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
% G2 V& X, n" d) [3 U; u2 e$ }admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
2 j& ~5 t7 d9 P$ b; y2 t5 qwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
7 ]) ]/ Y! R P6 _, ~4 u1 r) Obecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
% K8 K/ v5 ?2 |9 D' m* ~" Bwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the * G5 Q- @$ L h
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. ! t/ k! t% V k- w
, }7 }7 ]! y/ W' V6 m. X- h e( ?Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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