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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
7 B: p9 y' H0 e6 f; i; K: {Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on + m- R. u1 R& h) M
the merits.
( a/ S: t' `6 y8 T1 F3 C0 O5 |By David Boies % z3 U J$ _% g+ t$ x1 @8 c
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET ) {% u' |2 W6 `. a' c! G7 l) D
# J, P+ V3 m* G. s. UEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 1 L0 U5 J9 B- g6 d# p4 t
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
, P, w0 B( ]$ \( d }/ a5 `0 u# }Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
F9 J9 [$ d4 y' C6 n& `American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president 8 j+ }* B! h' L6 g/ N0 y
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt ) |2 v8 x& e$ Q6 Q+ S# `; |5 ^
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
9 v0 L, D4 ^, w7 v) ]nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence * Q4 ?+ H) z/ u( V1 }
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. ! B) N) s7 B" i; X4 z- ]+ E
Trump began the current military campaign. , Y' C1 t6 k3 I3 f q" Q
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous ! x E) g' R( P
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 6 A4 f- H7 y( H. E# U
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
, K4 D9 M* g: Ior Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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& m: K1 [$ ~" ~8 U+ P* B; GNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
; _$ ]( \ m) f& n) Z9 ` {0 Streasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action 7 ]" n) g* o' D% y
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? ) K: H8 E( q' M! j6 i: s( o4 @
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear " U1 W7 h$ S' e
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
% |5 _4 f2 A! C( [& ?4 tand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
- V7 x7 P, q: kmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been1 n" O% m% a- \2 I) S& F7 i! o
to permit them to increase further.
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
! i, j" f- M# a/ D, @7 Vtried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
( \) j* o$ A4 w, {; p" A4 ksanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
' V% h' c" [$ punderstand.
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
2 e& Z" ]( P. f& \4 O6 ZRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the ' g: [! a* k) v
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
1 a: R/ Z. ^+ ~. e: j0 R/ j" Vthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One * p, }8 B. L2 Y0 P6 ]7 c B
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
& P5 V& f3 R H3 W+ y) idirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
' R, Z( Y8 G. E4 M; Y) T, g# Bto devastate a city.
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, }1 L# W" X" Y2 d/ w/ mI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel v- A4 T) n0 F5 [
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. * S8 R i" t9 p" z$ ^0 B- ^
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition ; d- z. n5 T" H3 r9 R; E
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops ( \: u) F; f2 l z
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a $ _$ y8 C5 x% l
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
/ P4 m+ f- [8 H5 K. u+ s1 J! m% DPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
: \5 ?8 N) E% ~. thistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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U6 B5 I6 N1 [- n$ X, n' AMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
: ^$ J4 U( m9 z8 [( s2 D. vmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
" c- ]3 o" h% W2 RRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
7 L8 F& D" Y8 S% z. }' `* v+ VAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
- o* M( t: P' q1 s @; jAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
7 n; k& a( J7 y8 p/ J9 f$ E o( ?supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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& w# E. p j; f* j$ UMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we 3 s, @2 L1 ]+ Q. G6 L
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the K2 [. p. R6 W/ c
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—5 r. g5 T, f1 `- w p$ h( k
even if it means a loss for America. 6 S6 V" P- h2 s: j9 ~3 I
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
$ b. ^6 ]- Q9 Wwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was + t5 h! x6 c/ O1 B7 u a
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman 6 H% \, M; O3 I( ] A
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
3 \) T6 y( K2 opopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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7 b8 t/ E' ]( ]7 `Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
: F8 u# s- A* X; }- t ` x6 U5 Scontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
4 ~- v5 o) R e( a( Presult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
# D- b& z3 j) b# O' u# YRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and 0 L0 `$ A- R7 E# C. V
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those $ h4 \5 Z/ j7 Q3 c8 Z* r
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to y) X( j3 I/ a& o' v5 U$ G
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
3 x3 _7 T/ G# E) n. p2 Qowe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
9 Y a# P, h" f' l, l2 X( k4 n$ Jmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
2 i8 B0 _8 J. Pgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse 3 e8 n0 r2 q& m+ V, g
for it.
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4 y# C& @) B- L/ {+ AAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We 2 w/ z5 t: f; o# |9 {3 M
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
- g. z+ C3 L7 b! Xhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
* @' K' o1 J' Y3 T; Q! E! xmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will & n2 H/ l% F; f' ?& V' c: U$ z, n
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
! K5 }8 y6 T4 s4 \2 O7 a6 ?( ?' Vand not merely obstruct.
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) C: w- U' I* w) {- l/ T3 BIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
4 Y8 v3 V `- ^4 j/ Y. vthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or : M: v6 b5 n8 M
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
% f3 }- z/ _. ~' C3 Y+ A3 iwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not - z" }& e3 t) C- c. F3 L. h
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 6 ^1 n U. W# C
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the ; U$ q" B4 Z2 [) A P
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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9 w3 S! |! a& M W) u. a8 fMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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