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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
+ L K* v0 W( L$ dTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on 9 G k- V9 }! n6 z% K | d
the merits.
! _% f/ d4 |# V* e1 X s" \) F2 RBy David Boies
: f4 s& R$ W: _5 h3 iMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that - i2 B2 Q* @6 y3 [* u4 P
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. , z6 O ^2 Q, X( @( K
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
! J0 W. r" H. Y# y7 J2 i- H9 HAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
" L6 B+ s2 C0 B6 U! V' u1 bleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
7 A$ d: ~% U2 `- L9 `: S+ Gaddress.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 8 v" D0 }. w3 r; {6 w/ V
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
/ _/ {- I* H8 Z) p: [$ B* @nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
F# I6 @4 L d* Cthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. 7 a5 @9 l, e( P7 ^( ] D" S
Trump began the current military campaign.
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0 |2 G: i! h. L# X4 f/ AIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous ( G: p/ G: }* D! V+ J0 G8 s c
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles . H% X/ b+ o w
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 4 e5 E2 a3 z+ _9 \
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. - k, d; G. g. ]5 M$ Q$ c
. k- m& q' O/ uNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste # A' s; A% C& ?/ A
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
* w. n- z* ?4 M+ D, B* |& U& Eseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? & J8 Y6 |) s( ] J4 e
7 h; [( `* \4 k* E+ [0 f$ B3 k- dObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
* ^, x' |9 k( u“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons . F# B0 i6 U6 b" @7 b6 o; x. Y$ O
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
* w( V( N5 L6 n5 |( @" O3 O8 v+ n% ~) Jmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been4 J8 ?8 v- U0 c; W
to permit them to increase further. 4 c, t- F: p2 z4 V' j) ]1 B
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve ( {1 ~1 E! f# J& q$ R
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 1 ]4 R! Q0 W \' j) R# J! E: C" s
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders $ Q2 y% P$ r9 L) }
understand. . |2 }$ ?, Y& ~3 l! ?, j
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
4 Q+ q, ]: N1 F; F- X1 D3 {Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
7 |# }& ^/ v$ B/ ^2 W9 ~fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because 0 U! z# K- M0 P& J4 Q) T8 x
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
' `1 P8 C, ]' I! qhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or ( U3 b7 u) `, n A, M' x3 ^3 ^$ g
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
; d. r' a" C. {; N/ v4 ^to devastate a city. % w+ X9 I1 [. A4 J3 t; ~) `
; L D _6 p m" w' QI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
7 \- y) j# R$ G. D8 W. P' K0 \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
; \7 ^" e; @" Arooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
0 v' I+ S' ^+ ?' p& t$ Aat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a $ n5 e6 \ i+ s
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
9 X3 Q8 E$ T0 M& W1 E" MPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
/ S3 m2 S# C0 U `history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. ( z [- J0 u7 R0 R
0 y0 P( q8 @8 B! F4 KMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the 5 ?) I. D* |: s/ F! ], ]
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 8 [% X( Q7 J/ v- t
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
4 J, A4 W m+ `5 VAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
9 k0 Q9 x P, F% b! iAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably a1 Y2 E3 \5 i9 E' r, P2 F5 y$ q
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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* |6 p9 {! e4 E% _More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
+ a8 C+ h. x( R% falmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
& U4 C' k9 K: n2 Y+ n; Qpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
/ \8 @% a0 _6 Y. U W& K: jeven if it means a loss for America.
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- R/ y& D% Z+ YWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
% `2 ?# B) q0 p h& Fwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was 6 D1 G- W3 x4 n2 T+ _
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman E9 V/ ]( O* a8 i7 s
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
+ K# g3 Z( X8 Q2 F( ipopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. - I) W7 J7 J K( \# A
6 D. A2 j$ `- a4 jTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
4 C0 z+ L e9 T! g- L! Zcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the : Z+ p# f( ?/ c7 @
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. J/ w1 b) B: u: z- l
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
/ B6 ^& d+ r1 {+ Y }2 {4 Fextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those 6 I# _0 [9 O/ S- K' G
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
) w8 N( X4 J! y i7 Q; Z! Msupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
3 f+ l5 E. e b9 ^0 zowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. / Z5 A6 q. I" b( P
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the 8 j$ Z/ E! e* l: g a
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
$ M/ { `. s$ P& u4 J4 tgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
9 |4 o% O9 K: Yfor it.
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& p5 N8 M% F5 o# i! E1 t$ EAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We ( L. c! ^: v: y% f6 d, s1 }* u0 p3 `
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
( a8 T ^7 y2 U" dhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
- f1 y; o' {+ {% I. ^ @# Rmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
$ d& W) X) A# r5 A# o, }3 Rreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
0 t; }% w" G: x% Kand not merely obstruct. # E/ D) | T6 W! C3 K; O) p
; g7 C9 S0 s# VIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on $ x7 q5 b& L; o! J: [) o$ S4 z4 B. Y
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or G2 m k% ]4 Z! w! x
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we * v) |/ M- @0 r
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
) ?7 K" z% H/ ]5 O" @6 V6 [: I2 a( Wbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
4 z8 T( v6 V. v; ^; l) Q7 awill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
7 [- _1 e; J* v* j" lDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 5 D# C! G& @: J' z. o. r
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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