SAN DIEGO — A lot of politicians hate it when someone reminds them of a position they used to have but no longer do.

Columnists can't be so sensitive. Take it from someone who has published more than 3 million words: It's flattering when someone quotes your thoughts and opinions back to you.

That's true even when they're tweaking you. That, I assume, was the objective of the reader who recently dropped me a line.

He wrote: "You supported (President) Trump's war with Iran in March. Do you still support him for starting this 'war of choice?' Perhaps, and hopefully, this is a rhetorical question because I hope that you now regret your initial support."

Good question. It's one that I think about often. Six months after Israel and the United States launched joint military air strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, it's clear that President Donald Trump has lost his war against a crafty enemy after he dramatically underestimated their staying power, negotiating ability and tolerance for pain.

Do you remember when you realized that Trump had lost the war against Iran?

For Iranian officials, that message is coming through right now loud and clear. Their cue is that Trump is shifting tactics from the deployment of military power to the application of what the president threatens will be an "economic D-Day" on his adversary.

According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump is contacting other world leaders to demand that they support the U.S. and cut off all economic lifelines to Iran. The goal, said Bessent, is the "economic asphyxiation" of the regime.

As for me, I can be a slow learner when it comes to conceding defeat to militant Islamic regimes that have been waging war against my country for nearly 50 years. So that realization came to me gradually in three stages.

First, I knew we were in trouble when Iran managed to shift the terms of the standoff with the United States away from its nuclear capabilities and ambitions and toward whether oil tankers from all over the world could continue to travel through the Strait of Hormuz.

Second, I got more uncomfortable when Vice President JD Vance went to Switzerland and negotiated a "memorandum of understanding" that acknowledged that Iran had exclusive control over the Strait of Hormuz, even though it is an international waterway.

Third, I knew the game was over when the Iranians announced they would strike a deal with Oman over use of the Strait that excludes the U.S., charges fees to other countries and prevents the U.S. and Israel from using the waterway until they pay Iran war reparations.

So, in light of these realizations, the reader wants to know if I "regret" backing the Iran war. From his tone, he appears to be hoping that — as a result of the Trump administration's hubris and incompetence — I now agree with him and oppose this conflict.

I'm sorry to disappoint him. But — in the words of the 1980s prophets Hall and Oates — I can't go for that. Nope. No can do.

I know that I am still out of step with the majority of the American people, which never wanted this war in the first place. And, as the war has progressed, they have wanted it even less.

According to a recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about two-thirds of Americans say the Iran war — which Trump predicted would be over in five weeks but has lasted five months — has not been worth the cost. That's how the vast majority of Democrats and independents approach the situation, but also how 37% of Republicans see it. Overall, just 28% of respondents approve of how Trump is handling the war.

I still believe this was a necessary war, something that should have become obvious to all Americans when Iran responded to the initial attack in February by firing missiles and drones at moderate Arab states such as Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Imagine if those missiles had been tipped with nuclear warheads.

I regret nothing. It's a dangerous world. Denying that fact won't make it any safer.

Think of it this way: It's like we have a leaking roof. So we call a repair company that messes up and makes the problem worse. At this point, we don't conclude that we should never have tried to fix the roof in the first place. That would be absurd. The roof is still leaking. We still have the same problem. We just need to hire better people.

Remember that on Election Day.

To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Mark Fletcher-Brown at Unsplash