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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America % N, B$ s7 M3 B$ B/ l5 g& `
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
( ~3 {- B% C `" z8 D Dthe merits.
; d- P6 N2 Q, @( OBy David Boies
( O' D# b7 _ N. j) ^! j" VMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET . W$ y" ^7 p2 R3 ~" |
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
+ h5 d" [8 [5 J& @! I8 pIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
; T; N' b7 F. B! d) n6 N) {Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
" O' Q/ W6 k- o; tAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president l0 z! c8 S1 ^9 X. G e' |5 y
left his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
' s% {$ S" D7 B5 q& v; p' Y+ iaddress.
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' |! Q1 j# @. P! I0 vLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
: v' W f U& `0 e! MIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
8 B! z. u/ S9 X! u# _- z4 B7 Knuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 5 I0 n" Y3 C7 b8 I" X! a9 _, d& B
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
; f/ n0 `, R% e C0 zTrump began the current military campaign.
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: k" H F& F3 @- rIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous 3 f4 [6 `: S8 U6 B+ n
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
5 W8 ^3 F0 u4 `6 ^5 x6 B% [# A; Dnow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 8 `) b% s- s& ?& q* Z& M
or Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb.
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- l5 H b# C7 H$ |0 s' a8 RNo sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste u) ^+ g# V1 E' l! i" c) ]
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action : q6 F% J7 v. F
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? ( G0 F2 V3 u; s7 V6 B9 h
$ n s( n) q% l3 J& m1 T! Y3 VObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
1 s% P! z3 X8 @0 Q; }“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons : s; k6 Z% v2 E& Z$ ?
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
% a! g+ P- N2 Bmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been: i2 N. b1 f5 E: V2 J
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
" c' i, _' H. P$ H: Y8 w, ^. S/ Ptried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
- O! n' @* f2 n8 X6 asanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders ! H, ^8 f s" u" h% C3 T/ u
understand. ! a5 D1 a* M% H9 s& X w
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the
7 l0 a1 ^ u& tRepublican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
! P- `4 S0 e/ P! W8 cfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
: K" ]& f' o9 a \, e1 cthey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
6 a2 F3 I6 A1 q$ [! qhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or + e7 A" x0 }- [& h3 {
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country,
( m4 S6 L! u6 ?* C0 Ito devastate a city.
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9 P5 _: ?7 u/ a0 E1 NI also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel ' P' r+ Q5 j8 J* O
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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0 A* m' E( t7 |, uWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition
6 ]5 H5 P, p' ?) |$ ]! n% {rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops ( m2 I* s- u( h
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
) j; l. Q8 m) b: }* spresident over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
6 N5 ?( Z2 B# \& m' b! LPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
% {& d( {3 b; `5 _: O7 shistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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) w7 H( I7 O2 F+ N8 P( A9 c% P' A* qMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
3 ^% b! W& C. M( L2 bmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many - m: D. S z; C* M* ]+ b
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in ; j. X: U! J U p1 |! _0 J. O
Afghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
. k0 y! z0 O- a9 n: h0 e8 |% {7 nAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably % U4 d8 B# G+ H: B% i
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
5 H g# g- R( [9 ?4 Ealmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the ) z% \. O' R; J3 U% w, [
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—0 M5 P7 ^/ d' x* D! Y
even if it means a loss for America.
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When North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It 3 S3 y( M( F, B) z
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
- w$ T" R, h/ B# b$ Selected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
. u2 H5 n7 N5 k) zwas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
5 M- J9 ?5 H3 y* {2 Tpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. 9 q" S4 o V: k$ J- w
( q* {5 X$ `) k( ?Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
+ @0 Y9 l& ?2 f( [# q* Q! N4 Ocontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the
: s# ~/ ?% E+ s5 I8 ^ rresult would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. - O" m8 i8 B' ` l0 ~
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
" n. {# T* {& v, Hextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
|# E& X/ G* `3 B8 ?' R" ?of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to
( ?2 Y6 Z7 Y5 i) j5 `3 L: Fsupport the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we ! ~$ \1 e' h; V5 a5 c! h$ f
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children. 4 }# S1 V) T9 Q. I8 e3 }; @
( |# Y8 W) M GIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the
1 _5 a* S) J! x+ n" ?mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
2 k/ r1 p! Z% kgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse w1 @$ ~" _: U
for it.
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
+ `; `4 ?) V8 W2 k. ]Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action + \: _) g1 e9 \( ?, [
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
+ E- w) `0 }. l$ b; l$ _maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will Y0 |$ j; m4 B: b- V) N6 S$ B
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits ' C7 \7 [+ ~5 }( S6 a; P- @
and not merely obstruct.
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
/ x; a% k4 k- [5 |this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or . z4 X) w! e* B# V( o% Y7 g5 h
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
% N o5 _. ?- N9 U8 L/ }want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
3 ^3 P* v) a+ Ebecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
+ C z) z5 v+ bwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the ' s* }+ s6 R( K4 I \5 G
Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. ; o( I6 V: N+ I- K: x
( \% l8 C( r/ R8 L; ^" L# ]Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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