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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America * u$ T2 B5 ]& @" ^/ A! @' X3 r0 k
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
) h% {8 v- \, ?& Mthe merits.
% ~& e9 A7 z {4 oBy David Boies
) J6 y$ ~ A0 g! eMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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& k+ s4 T: Z' r- xEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
; `3 [9 Z2 E2 Q4 BIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
! V- E0 \: s! n1 C3 Q7 y" c1 gEvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
1 K' t4 P; X! a' o3 h; mAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
6 m- s5 e q" @# Z) r* y: |2 c oleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to & h( t2 N* Q, J9 x
address. : u/ g( v& N) Z& k
# |9 a( P& W- X4 a: i: OLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
" V" M1 V( k6 u8 m8 t, ZIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
- {( J2 T- m, n% Q, S3 Lnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 9 I$ K. a4 c' e. {2 l( A
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. 9 F( n: u" j7 d! p p$ b9 K3 V
Trump began the current military campaign.
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) f% `. U2 [+ U. h" Y1 Y; o, xIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous ' O8 d+ X) A/ @, Y: x& g d
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
. E. D. \* o- d w, U8 rnow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York ; d4 M1 I9 t9 g$ e4 L7 v
or 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
; M8 x0 B$ I4 F% _/ d+ U) c' l. Ftreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
' m0 f0 j* i9 _+ A, \7 Zseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? . F y( f/ H3 P3 B) G
4 n( S' r3 ?; mObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear - l Z' E7 a5 Z4 j! a0 d$ v4 Y
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons ) h- n3 s. [4 r) M
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
( S# X" T! i" {0 C8 c5 Emuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
# c' n% c! T2 I0 _2 z( vto permit them to increase further.
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve ; X6 t7 p O7 P& w, U3 i# e; v5 L7 S
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
- x3 q! s: _3 m$ ?) H2 |4 fsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
- O9 A5 v, e- [' ~1 @% W/ Qunderstand. " ]. a4 s- v& i( c% S0 v
( S6 L- e1 {) q, B8 }I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
}1 M1 O! ^6 Z! A: @/ [; fRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 2 x. ~/ b6 }7 r) E
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
& i# g+ E0 e: j* d0 lthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
9 }: E$ m7 f7 r$ P7 ?hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or ' P# ?. b0 N2 }3 B! l p
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, + a; P. h; \! [1 ^! s: n
to devastate a city. " ]5 P" b+ r, ~! Q, f7 y
7 i) S8 n6 w: U* F5 J+ iI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel . l8 r) m" Q. Q: R) c# J
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. : D( U" N$ P! y+ Q9 E9 j% _5 y
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition & y9 o# k5 b9 e% w: b2 l
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops ! ~& @5 a) r l) b4 U( X
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
6 O5 D3 {5 d# n3 B6 r4 Opresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice 9 Y' b# p V7 H, _1 R0 c6 H
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our - j: ^& {/ x9 |. k& b. w% _; {$ ]
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. 2 H/ H8 m: q1 M2 ^3 N
- G/ o# J& N& Z8 t0 Q3 _More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
7 [) E1 g0 y$ M/ Y* k0 y5 w2 Smilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 1 q5 {7 ^* p& N9 s6 t1 u
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
- u5 X( C3 O9 L* c- y' IAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
. `& v* \. A' kAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
; f6 ^: `2 O. {' A3 ? H4 L V+ Vsupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 3 |& S* ~, {! o' y
1 @& d: F9 b; ~More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we 0 N6 L# F' C! }3 \
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
+ _# `/ _' t" Z2 a; `- Dpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
2 E, F5 q' J* @) yeven if it means a loss for America. $ U1 b- D p- a0 q& I0 N
7 K5 J. A* F2 @! o; hWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
' l6 ?4 r% M* F' P9 ?" Qwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was Y* M9 ^* t: n/ s! X& {1 D
elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman ( w& r F9 R7 A; B+ H' c# N( H4 Q
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
' [7 O) q3 M( h2 M% x- Y5 Y% cpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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' i. V2 |+ A$ x |/ D" i# ZTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to 7 \: u4 q5 C8 C1 K: ]0 g' X
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
f) f% q. l8 T& D: j: L2 jresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
9 ^$ {9 b, i/ T$ c) vRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
& _) I6 p* H/ w+ xextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
# ^# L) c: i: `3 hof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
! V% m3 j' b- ?2 E( ?; U3 ~support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
# J0 U: n+ q# [ W& mowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. , p) v: M! V2 i$ h( s+ H( S4 Y4 Y
5 N; H* }. ]3 FIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
1 C$ {7 I6 @7 G5 |- vmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we ( D+ h& g1 \; |7 _. x
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
8 Y( [3 E0 K: M1 z2 A6 i4 bfor it. 8 {5 Q5 Z% a9 ^' \. B
3 X( o( G5 Y) DAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
j6 M: v$ |5 Z4 D! `* z2 l# RDemocrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action / R- R. G u+ f' s/ D' ^% ~' z
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but ) J+ `" Q# n( ~+ y3 G
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will , i& I. _% V$ y; b
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
; d" J: }3 _2 i8 L3 e) p7 M) cand not merely obstruct. ) e4 k3 }5 u+ ]3 L5 p% E" @
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on % h4 P; W8 V, V6 N- h( }
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or , F0 G" o% v8 q" |5 R
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we - U) H; ^7 D" u5 N. c& a! }4 u0 T
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not / _+ W+ [( l5 ]1 l% L- ? p
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they $ W; [; A/ n& L) l: O; X
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
+ R1 B2 f9 H3 C5 ^) E" l& yDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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1 c1 n% D N% lMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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