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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
0 N* G, N& D) Q' {Trump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on
' ?' o7 `9 k }2 w% K6 K& Ethe merits.
, Z! q- H0 z' u) a; J9 }By David Boies
) b) w; g1 J% w/ {March 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET
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$ B# g+ v" l& e; nEvery past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that 2 y, U' C2 ^, J
Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it. / y# `3 \% U+ s2 i
Every president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
5 R7 g" I" I8 ~% ]8 X$ _) zAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
- s7 c2 T- l3 C" I8 `7 B* j3 Aleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to 8 m5 ~. z/ @& ]3 k6 }
address. n6 b# a( _1 g" P3 {: v, \
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Last June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt 4 F3 Y8 E( J# `6 K7 o& S- u) J3 Z
Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its
3 K+ u& C# `8 z, c' V* d | `nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence
& x! R2 w/ P6 j- s8 Uthat it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
) F/ E. x9 i0 FTrump began the current military campaign.
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& ?6 @9 ?, Y t$ wIf he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous # d4 b7 c% u) D8 B+ S
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles ( A6 ~* b) D+ [" w
now hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York + z9 V! K% z! X2 s! b
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 8 c H+ l) B$ z) l
treasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
( X: Q, ^/ v4 ^8 w9 u6 D# useems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative?
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear D$ n5 }3 Z+ r) C9 q
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons 8 @# x0 U, R4 O+ s# ]( N
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how
0 c1 O7 a9 A1 G1 F8 D) \! a: c7 Fmuch its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been
5 s" E7 D k }- _to permit them to increase further. ; @5 I2 c( I1 Y w5 I* B
2 W6 _3 J. y4 b" [3 D
For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve " _2 k/ V3 W/ s, r! t
tried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
/ v6 K3 R0 W' J$ a0 Bsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders 9 ^5 e( g$ V" k
understand.
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% u6 w) }$ y# q. P; m0 i& h1 p4 r& OI understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the N( M3 V+ m- f
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the 9 F5 V6 o, ?, C( }# C1 B/ F6 u
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because 9 {; O. N2 {/ l2 f& s- B
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
5 f/ w1 `; ?6 q$ J- chundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or : V! d% U9 M5 B( a/ c
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, 9 m$ E& U7 v! D
to devastate a city.
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/ d. Z- O$ @! \I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel 4 u$ t* ?- D& k" ?6 I1 k M
and Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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" e: T1 d0 [7 oWhat is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition ; N: C7 X, ^' U2 e/ A
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops
9 A% x$ a) a* A) \' c6 |* sat the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a 5 j7 g/ `! H0 R8 r
president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
# B1 R. g) ?# ^# ^President Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our
" w Y% ]. N# h% chistory we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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1 R8 `! O" H7 |7 qMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the
; F. K! r Z8 Nmilitary action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 6 X2 q7 z; g% {. R9 ~$ ^3 F
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
% ]% m8 S+ W. WAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in
2 \# t! ~# E2 P) yAfghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably
' \) `7 R! U0 f9 Z2 _: o& c" lsupported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam. 3 w* A7 O9 q3 D5 Z- A5 E
* @) r1 ?" n; S+ x) D# h$ JMore important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we
+ Z( ^$ l( u& u6 calmost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the 1 O9 p$ B- x; D' K# {0 L
president is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—
& Y' J9 q+ ^9 L' T" V2 Veven 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 , R5 h8 l3 r! s |7 {8 @
was so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
! D' h# K, a' e/ h* m5 m9 Pelected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman
+ C4 C+ O& D$ G% m% swas president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
3 l8 G1 M- A' ]' c/ ^popular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command. + j, u- t5 D0 j4 @$ t( l. {+ h, Q- a$ v N
" B- j, q0 k! aTruman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
8 J8 X4 ^" w2 ?0 ~" W$ scontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the # s$ y) |+ H ]3 F5 ^( R9 C/ H
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s. 2 ^$ I9 J* V3 q: f1 D3 X* h* X' B
Republicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and 0 y9 e; V' ^4 d: f1 r
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those 1 d/ U, H- K( }* F* Z, J
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to 4 z4 h4 @ C0 f7 B. Q8 M
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we + T7 N. y( n+ r( l+ ?2 w
owe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the / {( q, ?* L: x2 \, ~: b2 c
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
9 e3 N/ ?. L- O+ W! O: {: U7 P' Jgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
4 S1 A F* D- Wfor it.
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We
- E% u& E$ u8 P0 i5 v# ?Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action % x U ~" ?2 _! {
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but - ?; ^0 n6 ^& s' c4 P" h
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will
9 g* Z. F' E0 P( r& O; V2 [$ }return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits 9 g2 ~: l: w' C/ v! D# O6 s/ S
and not merely obstruct.
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If we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on ' W& a. w3 a& }( f% N- j/ R
this issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or
3 T1 U, S# S5 C& j0 t9 O. madmire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
2 W# R% W/ e+ B+ u5 y3 Z4 @want to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
6 y2 k% B p) fbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
$ e8 @) J) @( wwill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
N6 N$ P0 L1 W' jDemocrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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+ U! a; ?5 D3 E4 N, Q+ s: O0 FMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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