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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America 6 r7 Y' _2 s/ [6 L
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
' H; t+ h7 |6 t8 d L7 x# F7 K( Kthe merits. 8 q; J& N% V9 G
By David Boies
6 M: ]7 a0 Y |4 D: Q4 D3 UMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET " F, u6 }$ T1 `; m8 h0 T
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that $ }% @8 v/ j5 e4 g, y/ X
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. # s0 r% r4 m7 q: n
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
: f8 B0 q) v, p" ~American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president ' v* l. t) O- ]3 E7 }) V- v, C# X
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
! u* b. R' ]9 r2 o1 [address. 8 |, a( F; {' J# W# N! r# d
& z* P, A- X: ^3 G; Z- O6 r( TLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 9 B" q( J4 Q. G( y
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 7 N3 {/ i( ~- u, i9 q: I. w& q
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence + j; T5 r- v V6 ~& V% G& _# r- O! _
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. ; }3 G" i( k' P! G8 o
Trump began the current military campaign. - B$ r! Z0 L( f. K6 Y: g1 G, E
( V7 W6 e }! L3 ~. J1 QIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
$ f% _9 {! T) { }choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles ' R7 o8 V( q+ n1 \
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
8 n2 O$ U3 S5 H" K qor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
7 g; q7 Z0 [) p0 \; Utreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action ' t" |, F% P J7 o3 R0 N+ R; `
seems 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 # w' W' \) Z. |1 P
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
% A! B- g8 M2 [: vand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how 4 k2 v7 U1 {0 [2 A, m
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been6 o+ y7 d7 e2 ?/ L% U
to permit them to increase further. # q7 ?: |; E- U
2 ~9 `5 Z+ h$ g3 |6 YFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve 0 O% `: N- f- k" D
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
( u1 b* S$ e1 L9 a1 f0 d; Z$ Osanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
) Y2 F4 W% s# }3 T" Gunderstand.
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9 k( J0 H: M. S. pI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
- u/ \9 T& n& r% a: X# E* S oRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
/ ]- J( G, l: P4 ?fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because 0 ]6 m8 q2 I' n: h# S
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
( V* w' d6 R2 M7 D$ Xhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or \% V2 w4 ~) I1 o
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
0 g( M" i3 |: P$ y; d4 Eto devastate a city.
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* f" F+ T$ }2 o1 lI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
2 z9 ^; U# b* {" P; ^( aand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. $ e6 o: }3 ~0 R% E- S( s
. R, ?0 |3 D! ~- b( M% T8 t' O: cWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
! X1 C0 |3 k1 V1 \% i! E+ o9 z6 Erooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
1 x0 c9 k: J1 l% I3 Qat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
9 \! V `' {: Jpresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice 1 X6 ^1 G2 M w1 s9 X
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 4 ~; ^9 G: p& [( e5 ], P; n5 B+ S
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. $ \5 z# t7 y1 m e1 }+ ?$ H
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
* v0 ] @& i& d5 O! x O% Fmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
8 [+ E0 U1 o' B" A9 D6 S+ oRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
& x% S, ` H O: G0 ]6 NAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
; W I' V- g) z: p; k9 U2 V# SAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably ; ?4 H; t+ X/ j" O
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
$ ?2 l1 H/ F; x5 h1 S: Q! G% X# R! a `, m0 o; x( }3 i
More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
( i! J. j5 q$ P2 [# [almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the % F8 v- T% z# ~' N& ^! P
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
! Q7 V' G6 D" i* ]4 G. R6 meven if it means a loss for America. 6 x7 }9 J9 |& b4 Q- K' G7 n4 s5 W
( {3 Y2 B: O8 G5 q" p' s0 p8 fWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It 6 I" L; {% f- C( \, E% ?1 a0 \4 l
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
- w- L# j" ] i) _5 X5 A; Oelected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman - H f1 y& I3 V2 _
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the % ]; s" k) R4 q0 }
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. $ a6 A& T; x3 V# b" Q: [
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to $ P4 Y: v4 ^, f6 d# V* c; _" v4 \
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the $ X% |+ W& E% j. o- O
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
9 v0 U9 m$ O! b# g& N0 f1 VRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and # k' X! @% }# H3 X5 O' `
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
9 d5 o5 p* g2 R4 }( k9 G- i' I$ Yof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to + r+ A6 [# ~; H" z
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
2 c/ o8 M: q1 i0 ]0 Q* fowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. ; ]- K$ t6 \4 h* S; ^9 B, v& a
# o; w# @; P6 B/ }% bIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
3 P/ F1 w( |/ B A, E2 kmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
5 V( `7 B& D/ ?: A) a/ Y6 Ugenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
' Q2 r8 K4 H9 F/ s& F3 D! t4 y4 ]for it.
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1 z+ Y' k: P# X4 ]/ }2 V2 E3 nAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
/ p5 Y m0 g2 j& HDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
N; c& P J g1 p5 }had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but 0 [4 @6 l% a9 s1 ?% [& @! m
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
% Z$ I( e! W! L, I4 _return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
# [( i9 O4 C3 g. Y" O* J1 N( uand not merely obstruct. : B( C& p0 a* B2 K; M* z$ Q1 `* q
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
$ A6 o D0 H* P' L% Lthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or 3 |; A# G* t# P6 o3 L/ ]$ d* @
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we ! K4 _ e8 z( u
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
) j/ R0 l2 ~ I5 E1 ?6 Zbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
B, q, k1 q2 Y& \8 Cwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the 5 j2 F0 ?9 V- s& I
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. ' _) K, ^2 _$ B- @- y
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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