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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America - H# g/ s4 h( S" @* I) a- J- o
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
% Y) a7 B5 J7 l# N- L) tthe merits. ; _; ~6 d1 o0 L( N
By David Boies
- A( F `% t( X8 K- [March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
$ `5 P) [' T' c9 H* R" NIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
( i9 N) C; t$ i) bEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
) r, d# r/ @1 c% H8 I( aAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
9 p% c" R7 b5 Q* P. F& jleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to 0 k0 L+ N. J+ K. R/ R
address.
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' b m, F; L- u' G' v) x/ QLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
* G/ I3 _, M4 O; a. OIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
& w: Z9 L: u0 @- A1 @0 dnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
% f0 o, d) P9 H- N: i! q- Gthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
3 |+ B$ n* @" N' Y2 a4 @Trump began the current military campaign. 6 s7 I7 y9 j# Z1 z g7 g0 C
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
6 \9 @+ p$ ?9 c' J" `; m1 B% q! Pchoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 7 W3 J0 k7 O0 p6 [9 e: I
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York ' F3 z; D7 b4 f4 U, h4 p
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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4 |# s t7 _% a. UNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste 9 u8 J* Q1 X1 Y) r1 S" n9 t- |" z. M
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
. w4 i& P* \# @' J+ |seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? & R9 j5 L. ]) z+ G0 z
+ [! x8 I% T6 u! z5 x% y# ]% Q, IObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
. M$ P3 s, E+ }" J: E“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
* Z6 g: R- ^: U' [and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
; z; |1 r. N4 hmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been( D' k: ~/ B' g( s& p/ ^
to permit them to increase further. - u, Y' Z! }( I% z2 _
7 R9 U/ _) |0 I1 ?) H2 Z( o0 T# bFor three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve ; J, o. x" E) h' i6 B- m I
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 6 _1 `! G( z0 G/ ~ e* _
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders 7 l& a7 }- @4 F6 j" B5 n+ Z6 t
understand. . e; ^! ^8 Q$ g, Y% ^0 k
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the - O* o6 C: R9 k4 v2 I5 C
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the ! C' [+ L- @! ?
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because 2 R; x8 c, V; u0 X: e% ?( ?) A
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One 3 _5 ^. g3 ^: Y2 t0 z
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or 3 _" {5 M( L) ~1 L, x
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
+ Z' A( Q0 S ~$ b1 M1 g( @to devastate a city. 3 y1 c" H' q6 U
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel 4 G' `1 W" ` e' J: f+ @
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 ' D* l; o, H2 G2 h* U& F! Z# u
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops ' Y. e8 G! Q/ x3 _6 O8 K! ?
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 7 t. h2 t& b* Y! X/ r! j
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice % \( O9 F) n7 N' `
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our ! I* d% E" H% {% u
history 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 - D. \: ]1 v# D9 r4 B
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
0 m4 H, Y/ Y( U; O6 X, BRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
3 c5 t ?7 D5 y/ J9 ?- { J0 e. yAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in ' T' [- i. {6 |1 w' B" }
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably . e$ v% T% a( e6 W: t) ?% h* P+ q. N
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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# I3 b) N$ o1 R o! f& W3 o X& kMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
- }" B t5 s- z' Malmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
2 o* D3 I9 x3 z) e G7 G2 G$ Hpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—6 q S' Y* g* S- q$ L: K
even if it means a loss for America. q. K; c9 A" ` G" P+ O
: S' d8 Y ~3 u D5 KWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It 6 }5 N4 y+ Y t$ L; w% O
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
5 k+ ^' \6 \5 l( E$ a( ?# Delected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
9 I8 n. o' q& Iwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the % X. z' f& T/ Z7 U
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. 3 k6 w+ t7 W" @$ b4 {( z# G
, u, i: K" K) v$ M0 oTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to 9 P$ ]: s8 G! H( Z
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the # ?; ] I2 U) D: z/ @9 I& l2 ]9 d
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. 6 ]5 C3 g) f! y$ d# m
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
7 l! b5 w& }3 r. J+ v5 N3 yextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those 7 s$ Q. P8 ?. g6 G; S4 _; _
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to * V) ~4 M' y0 x7 F' [! a
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
* j& F7 X8 }- }7 G- A& vowe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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9 ?$ y* S5 j/ L: c7 vIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the ! v1 T; U1 ~ @. Z& s
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
% ~1 Z7 i6 J6 r- J1 w% @generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
0 u' e% ?) q, W, S3 O! n6 j Ifor it.
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4 r, k, I$ c; \5 [- }; ]: yAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We ' t6 `1 \$ p$ {, b2 |) h( z
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
$ `# N3 _# m2 ?6 P9 ghad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but + \% x0 L- d( d5 y( o. U
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
5 f; a9 T, [- p6 ?( [3 ^0 ereturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits 5 P# j0 \ ^5 t: y% D2 x% ?
and not merely obstruct.
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% m( e7 j' j5 S5 k; X+ ^7 zIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
( ]' r3 E8 p+ c, M2 ]7 pthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
- m/ U1 O4 Z% D2 O% a4 E! j& Hadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we ; q8 K( r8 c. t/ p8 ~9 l! r4 `$ c& Z
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
K3 E7 D% W- \because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
3 ^) g2 }* J2 w2 i+ w, N' fwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the 2 A6 m# c* E% L/ t3 o7 B t0 n
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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- p6 {& D! R$ d9 C. ?; c4 X9 aMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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