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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
. o3 d/ ~" K2 B( ~: ]Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on ! ~. Z2 ?( N7 B
the merits.
- j' @# S5 s" a ]/ I: E, q( e- QBy David Boies 4 f$ u% N: ?) E- z2 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 4 |0 T! ~1 i( A$ h1 B1 S6 h& l$ ~
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. - Q5 h8 ]* B( W
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against 7 B8 \: B% D4 Z4 Y" q
American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president 1 J& K$ k+ C. f) q6 q/ V& M _
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
! M- c6 L: `( N( r' d! Laddress. 8 K3 z; E/ z5 e \" w
7 \8 _6 t6 |# A, i2 ZLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 8 \' v& i9 S7 j/ q( C
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
* o! ~4 y9 Y5 v4 Enuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence & z D3 f! B* p% x! Y0 g Y
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr. * u' X& {( L8 F
Trump began the current military campaign. 3 }$ i; c" F* c" r( k4 u
7 `6 c! U& [0 n5 ^) ?: ~If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous . B3 L0 \) j0 P/ x5 t$ C
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles 9 ^( C! L; B# C6 ~1 f4 }% ]
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 8 i, h$ Z/ P- P& T$ p
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. 8 M; t: T0 v& d% G L7 [. Z7 u2 @3 t3 w
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
" M9 p* _6 n# o& Xtreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action ! g6 Q3 u' N6 k, h0 ]: @
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? ' N5 m) r3 y- M& a: h
, f: R- m6 B' k2 MObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear 7 L0 i! L( D& j$ \$ u0 q/ x: s
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons ! Q$ X1 `7 A! O, t& J4 G7 g
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
, d; `( ?0 E/ ^, J- ^9 e( y& [much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
5 F) ~0 G# `* w5 E+ H0 o! v; a) {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
* \0 ?. k; _+ _tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
: O( v) ?9 y6 y9 A& Nsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
9 M# C. T2 w* O# x; t3 _. W/ O, Wunderstand.
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
) Q6 @- d1 e; V, w7 i8 }7 V5 tRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 8 f* A7 j" g3 c2 q r
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because 7 l- l9 H* o* n; ]; S w0 c+ u( u
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
4 s* T& S3 P* G% M+ ]0 V% khundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
& q: K1 @6 z! |8 i- Hdirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
9 |3 j. M ] V+ o. ^* Rto devastate a city. 6 m$ h7 [! `# A
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel . C, A7 i5 A) ~) X% O! E
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies. 0 `; a! b# S- ?0 H& [
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition ; l" r" [" }! n) o7 Z! \( b+ V! |
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
! Q/ y+ E3 m) o- ?+ z# Nat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
9 @. w0 S7 ?/ p& opresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice / j% r) r! c3 e: a2 f3 e
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 9 }4 L4 v: g: a |; T$ L1 K4 \
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
& Y: I+ _# g6 Xmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
$ Z% B3 L7 c! E$ o3 X1 `( RRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in % S* n# G; `7 V& P
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
9 F g3 O/ G: N4 PAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably ) E) ^# _) A& M% Y& ]
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. . d8 r, d! x. F; N
. A0 V# |% o% `4 h( j) f6 oMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
O1 |5 i0 t6 R7 kalmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
- v" z' l! O9 @president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—9 G8 t! Z7 x9 u( r+ }0 J
even if it means a loss for America.
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# F/ Z7 l, _( v( {- m9 ?When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
) z0 o G' f y+ w4 Ewas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
* g: P4 M* A5 U0 ]elected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
i# B; q) Q9 O* Z; c4 F4 Owas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
% d+ s% t7 p; f3 ipopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. 4 j3 P' U( d) h& E w
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
! V- {; W3 M7 [5 U+ \. Ycontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
/ W& b4 }! |# i- \result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
9 K U# N) S* }0 j2 D/ D0 pRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
* L$ `0 W& v9 A% C5 I3 y% M' Gextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those 7 a5 L [' D3 C" N
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
" T8 b" x L4 `/ T" usupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
( s6 _/ W0 e, f4 |; Z$ D; Mowe it to ourselves, our country and our children. ' [) e* h$ [1 h ~( A
7 {. j% H0 V H7 iIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the 9 }# m0 `" e1 C( l8 U
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we 7 ~( R6 b3 ^; g/ K8 Q9 D8 Q+ g! @
generally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
* @$ U6 z& }! ~3 v3 {for it.
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7 `* y- p6 c2 d# W2 a+ zAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We . Q; J1 ?6 T" a7 K/ ]
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action 3 L6 j* z6 T/ o) D
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
' G' t3 {7 n: {+ ]7 cmaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
; P/ M3 Y0 K5 d& V$ |4 @3 X. Dreturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits + d2 D5 d! r! N; E# Y
and not merely obstruct.
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& `' [$ }, B' w1 R' UIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
4 n) r% n- n2 i9 ~this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
1 R7 H0 P1 I$ Fadmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
& b6 |$ d0 ]8 `want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not - P& ?7 Q7 d3 i# ]# a( a, I5 j6 ~
because the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
3 o0 L& ~8 w+ S, _/ L0 h/ { Twill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
9 s6 j. j7 s- YDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. $ i; L0 q- G8 q) r2 u
6 _1 _" h+ ]" e+ B jMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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