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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America & J5 l8 U8 Y9 ^4 H/ y
Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on : k r. Y W2 @5 Q* T
the merits.
6 M. u8 Y3 e5 s& t: a* d. _By David Boies . f0 }. Z! j1 H
March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
" ]" C+ w5 H8 x- `3 lIran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. 3 y& V: ~$ S6 |2 S
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
1 n# B% H* c7 u9 i+ Q+ j* }, r* bAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
0 { Z4 C" r9 @/ l2 R! Gleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
$ c E, p+ f# Z- l# \" eaddress.
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
8 E. G+ U8 H% f0 {: n) EIran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 5 G" D1 Z0 X6 x& m8 @
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
& @: [& t8 d% V& z, ?# xthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
" k- _$ |$ Q9 ~$ dTrump began the current military campaign.
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous % W& F L" C& V9 V
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
3 P7 I) o' h# X4 {) t& D2 {3 znow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York 8 @: |6 p6 a# b. `/ X) x# V( E1 {
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
, R \+ x; y V- Atreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action ) B2 L' c- e, u7 Q
seems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? 1 C& W E& I! w8 Y2 U
% W: k4 u1 _ aObviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear
) b0 e8 ?+ X* D& }5 z5 _“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons
) g& G; ?0 b3 Y/ cand the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
, `7 f9 F q. bmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been# n, }; p |0 O% q3 G- L9 S
to permit them to increase further. 0 J& K) l" s* N' v/ s% q* s
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For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve * e7 i7 `. x @* \& a1 T
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic & L! W, e! o5 ]
sanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
5 ^4 s1 d0 G* E, K; G4 d) S! r+ ~understand. 8 K! m( ~: w: e4 \; Q$ w, G
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 7 M* }1 W5 f- ?# v
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the
% z& Y H4 P6 j- |- Q% pfantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because
" N: N6 p) [+ q& k" Othey are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
3 I* C r) T* ?8 hhundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or
$ d0 c9 g9 Z+ ?$ z: d0 }dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, & U$ N+ @* j5 f" |4 l
to devastate a city. 3 @* ], G( s) L3 I- n
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
7 L3 w/ t; ~; |$ p8 P3 ]$ ~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
, {/ J. h( A6 ~4 jrooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops 7 k( ~' @8 ]7 j' u# A# B
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 9 |4 b1 I! {4 z0 p& P
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice - B$ G* }- p. s5 M& o
President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our # C4 I$ j# e- b: O3 K8 K
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt. - L! h# \$ F$ j/ u; A
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More important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the 2 _. y; a0 x( |0 ?9 A
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many
4 k3 M( j8 \' Y+ Z- H0 n6 ^, @+ xRepublicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
C( S4 ?5 f |( F# SAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
$ i0 U7 Z9 p8 gAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
+ d/ x' V. f" r/ u7 |supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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: k" a, M: X5 T. M7 LMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we ( ]2 d9 V6 x! ^4 y+ o9 R
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
6 Y, G, t7 q. {* I- [5 B+ fpresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
2 {$ X3 O) `# ~7 b* Jeven if it means a loss for America.
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8 p0 w5 |" t! e" EWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
# @9 E/ Y: s$ m. O3 Y' M: Awas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
1 C# H2 i( I4 F2 T( ~/ h- X; eelected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
" G. j* U* u# X9 H2 G5 c2 ]was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the f& W' n# C) r, D* K5 ~, g9 R9 |- @# ]4 Y
popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. # [2 W; X8 H7 l& l
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to * _1 d* S& l' c/ i
contain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the 6 ]6 z5 k, G* J/ ?2 p9 a. I
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
# N/ ?2 m( P, c8 G" v& {/ v9 p9 jRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and
7 z0 p$ h/ Q( ?' q3 |! Sextreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those
5 X( @+ k4 O1 y5 m% Mof us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to \; a) H1 `2 R2 g% f2 F6 L, Q
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
( \" |+ t+ Z" ]owe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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& t* D0 K7 {6 F" EIf we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the 4 Y- Q! C8 O8 n+ P8 Z
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
9 E# K; A. ]( mgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse 9 b5 r' f. Y8 F$ Z
for it.
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) }* o2 s4 A% y% E; o8 Q! Z" kAmerica’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We 8 V5 P7 D3 X5 \3 M) x# V
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action
2 P) |8 E& T j. fhad been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but
* w$ M& p0 a! k1 k: [) f( amaybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
: E! Q5 O9 I" J" @2 ?' Areturn the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits / E8 x6 C$ g- T ~' F* f
and not merely obstruct.
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/ g. A' I9 O# w* H) L* e3 M2 DIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
# H8 q* E+ c5 A" A& s+ q mthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or : H- |9 j: ^" E
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
O5 w* |" A7 H( i& K% |5 {; Awant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
/ r# R0 c. H( m, D4 m- P6 Cbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
y" P* N1 d* M- @* _' j! kwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
9 O) [) O/ M/ h qDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president. ) a$ L2 ]1 ~; }4 _8 M
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Mr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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