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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America ! U+ G+ q2 ?. V/ h
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
m$ {& U2 }7 x1 W |+ |8 n4 Jthe merits.
# C; F* ?/ J% c- JBy David Boies
9 A8 e* N* F3 T& NMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 7 }% C5 g D/ O) R, Y
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. 2 t- N: |1 e' N/ S
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
1 O$ t- T2 P' r# ^American citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president ' ^6 x, t1 f8 Q0 C: K
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
% N8 j, I" N1 l$ h7 P( t3 paddress.
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4 ^- ~* Z/ x. B/ e0 dLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
+ c h& ~) J0 z m% L! y9 zIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
4 _/ t! a9 R. } h# F2 v* Wnuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence / M; N& Q0 |) ^) O
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
* k* _9 F7 k5 ~Trump began the current military campaign. 7 y+ H5 m1 Q( i8 y
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous
5 j3 G+ D; v9 Ichoice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
" \/ B# ]) V! |( ?& c9 tnow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
) @$ {( P# E0 T5 n! W* z9 k6 [or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. 6 ?8 i+ L( ~* \0 u' }4 R* _: t
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste ; k- _$ X& ^' ~
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action ' c2 q' B8 U* \
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? 6 x$ p, U( X- }
. @: \$ V7 v3 wObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear 6 j: t- `. p' z% I- z! @
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons $ q# n7 Y* g3 @5 ]8 R0 g ]
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how + c! o$ a$ u% v, b0 c
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
! d( O9 C. e& A0 n2 p1 O( b+ w0 Uto permit them to increase further. 2 V! {9 S" E8 i" M+ Y1 W
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
2 q1 d% ]& u. L7 E+ S9 vtried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic 5 U9 L, M5 t. r2 ^; j0 N
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
8 s$ K( N; U# U9 I z [understand. 5 @; _+ ~# |4 y/ C
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the & p' e! p9 D7 I% `1 w
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 3 v3 v* L7 M" J0 U, c
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because ' p* v, b1 M# d) c
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One ' l" v7 E# @! P
hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or 2 u6 D4 }0 @1 l( e
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
& a" L& `/ m* g1 W: bto devastate a city.
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
, e2 a1 n! a: l7 O1 zand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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8 h/ L( T0 W' W2 \# X8 ^What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition % j- C3 I! [' [" s# n% t( A
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
: m# `) p: t0 E4 r L$ }at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
0 J& R9 e% b, Q- ~president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
. @$ ? g: M5 ^ X2 G- f: L: {9 o- wPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our ' P# v4 Q) k7 ~6 y: r
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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. i3 `& Z% U5 w# OMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
( r2 { b5 e% L! h5 Gmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
S) e8 z5 `6 O/ \Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in % ^& o8 i# v5 O- ]# [
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in 7 }5 b* i0 v( p( j/ f( A, x
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably * G4 M& ?, C; T: i. y) i$ [1 I
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 8 X4 ]& Y7 u& r, h, D3 \. K
( N, W; M. X- g) c) K; XMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
* @% z$ A% R& palmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
; ^" t' F+ H }4 |9 ~. A# U# Ppresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—- n$ e! \/ W/ Q$ T% Q
even if it means a loss for America. / t. ~# |7 ~$ U$ w
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It ' k& N, l2 ]' U1 d) a; o" W5 }
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
- W8 A& M# m1 u1 y. [, c; gelected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
: e. y4 t3 F! K3 }! r% ?was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
% G6 k, M% D: h8 ]; S+ S) t( S" xpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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* Y8 @/ X* n& [; V |& GTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to " g6 J1 b( J7 v( I7 I/ ]! H" d* `
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
# `0 D; Y+ N4 G. mresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. 4 A N% j7 K! P# U- B
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and / c/ J( j2 x ?( t3 _( ?- O4 [. C
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
2 G! y! u* V# h, v3 l( t: Rof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
6 e/ E% I6 S7 ]" ^support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
! E) k: C8 ` c$ g9 a* S0 J4 `* Fowe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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: t! g* o0 h6 q( fIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
5 P8 a7 z$ b' Nmission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
% u, ~6 H ~6 D) f( Mgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
4 Z) A6 X3 U, @8 K+ t+ U# bfor it. - ~9 h! \8 n' D+ l/ c' K
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We : c$ M' H" Z ]" m2 {% u9 D
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action 7 Q4 G( c# U; b4 w* e7 g; L
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
5 M E3 ^" u7 V# T9 U* H" amaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will # g+ I& _) T0 q9 ]3 u5 J) \( R
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits ' V6 N' ]1 {! ^$ W: p$ M# @
and not merely obstruct. & F; S& o; K6 Y% ^6 x7 Y
$ t0 ]/ A& q0 J* m" s% tIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
& o* I6 a y. e& z9 p" }; Lthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or ' _; p* ]' [- X' \; _
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we 9 ~4 N' R7 x( L2 ^! U
want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
$ e% _8 j4 G% Wbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they 8 H2 T$ O, ~3 g' h* u- s
will. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the " g" P! K7 `; O5 r
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. 4 l& f/ h# }7 z
3 ?& s5 o. @* ~1 l- dMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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