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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
) s3 r' i0 j* ?' n. P* ]8 HTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
% d, H1 x" [* f, q3 \5 kthe merits. 8 p. B. C: J9 k) U# c
By David Boies ) L, O. b$ b# e! D
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET 0 ]- O/ j( D' _: J# ~
$ Z3 q2 R, C1 l. hEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 0 s8 c1 ?& O6 g
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. : u: ` ?" i# h9 V
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against ; X. l' E/ ]$ r
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
, f0 w. N3 H( i3 xleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to # d2 p6 N% {* g( ?! w2 m1 E+ a+ P6 D
address.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt , `; U/ N; j4 y! D. l0 `( f
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
L5 a) E4 K4 o& d$ v# k2 Onuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
% [3 j9 v3 G K- a. v8 ~. A& j0 C/ w/ tthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. # w/ _1 y" _7 h* Z
Trump began the current military campaign. 7 F& T% i, ]1 _8 s. N+ ^
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous $ O( L" S% a9 z
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles : r& v% q6 T0 `: e( Q" R/ m
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York ! H1 u$ F% u% D: m0 f
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. ; U ]* D9 u# g, r9 z9 e0 ?
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste , B, K# h! N( K* r( Y
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
9 A. l7 I1 y, R$ V4 cseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear : z! R9 ^9 _* u! D: ^
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons ( k; r5 Q4 C& S4 z& p
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
J$ z! N! U( D* J. q+ C4 Jmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been3 M/ c! c% n. P* {1 r
to permit them to increase further. : {4 k7 `. g3 [7 u, h: W) i
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
& F, Y2 {; `+ _7 L; {tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
0 G$ q' v9 ~, R) y& ]) u! Dsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
, H: f9 F) ^; ^! Lunderstand.
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
* ]( i' B: t& S9 fRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 3 _' `# P% e4 Q
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
; z0 T6 F/ M9 h; L" n9 M" Kthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
u6 E2 ?0 b- q! z/ khundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or ! ?% c& x3 C. s4 i2 r3 s% v+ l
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
0 v: {6 v* _5 X. Hto devastate a city. + N5 @! ~# ?/ `4 [4 x
/ E" o, v0 h" J, g$ `7 }, J0 TI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel / a3 [% v! E. B
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
3 U$ D+ f/ F9 @% I7 T$ ? Yrooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
7 g$ ] y9 i8 ^4 s; l. _at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
2 _/ p+ P- @/ p! m j1 ypresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
5 y. r. s/ d3 v, R" N. pPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
q% {+ U. N4 ]" X& Ghistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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: l4 h6 G! V4 mMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
( l3 s" W' Q; Jmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 4 U1 S* D+ Q& n1 N4 K& ~8 J
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
# m' W v0 F& m1 TAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in 2 O9 G! ` E) N2 T5 }2 d
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably " `* \, x* a0 H/ i2 N* T) b j2 w
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 0 R4 `3 R( ?' w/ r0 _
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
/ X8 ]/ e9 I. V. H( c6 l3 ealmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 2 ?& X4 _, v2 R! N4 s# p) x; W
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—# J5 P) m6 E+ ]3 t" {, j
even if it means a loss for America. 7 b" b+ @: J2 |) C( f8 W5 c
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It + z& d/ h* u) j q- \% J
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
2 J& [# j. t m! z. P4 }6 Z9 X) x4 e2 relected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman 3 d- C/ f2 Z' C# k$ y
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
; Z) t8 B' h& H2 D1 opopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. : x9 V, ^) t5 N, _0 v2 n( m
& l- l4 W& Y- J& ?. T7 B: gTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to 9 A( d9 h$ E+ s0 H
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the ( H8 N5 }! {- B! k3 k
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
0 J/ r! G, i: x( Z, T- {Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and # K( o: K( k( Z, c+ S! r
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
3 D/ n' E+ R) S3 N# _* g+ J: }of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to : y \+ F" H" w6 p& p% d# r3 _
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we 7 E- R6 n3 M3 X, M
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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# z8 Y3 K( C6 _7 G) g, kIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the 6 F8 r: Z% ~# Q" J) i3 R C/ N
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we 3 L$ a" r# l# f ^9 K% s" ~
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse # h) e% W5 e1 _% B0 N
for it.
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. e! S6 C# q4 ]1 V) G; SAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
9 X7 b6 {/ v: J1 c8 JDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
' k( y$ q+ W! M9 [6 f; A q- w, ghad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but * r! ^( f- x8 K: E, m3 z: K& \9 x
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will * Q) w( w( m8 @+ @9 i
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
1 A7 b# w6 [5 }/ ^, ]and not merely obstruct. 3 E; i- M) ?: |
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
9 ~7 i1 _, Z' X. T8 q- k1 u: f9 f$ y# Rthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or - V+ |# h" R8 Y2 U2 X
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
) W4 ~+ l0 }1 N! M! }8 Lwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
9 ]$ p: L1 {8 w! V3 s8 ]+ Tbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
& J4 ~# l# x. swill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
$ {/ \4 [4 b6 J9 n( }! JDemocrat 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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