President Joe Biden tried to talk wars down. For example, on Jan. 19, 2022, he suggested – hopefully, it seemed to me – that Russia's coming invasion of Ukraine would be only a "minor incursion."

No such luck. Just over a month later, President Vladimir Putin's tanks rolled toward Kyiv on a mission to drag Ukraine back under the Kremlin jackboot.

Similarly, Mr. Biden offered Iran's rulers sanctions relief and diplomatic engagement even as they enriched uranium, stockpiling enough by 2025 for multiple nuclear weapons.

The theocrats were not interested in rapprochement. For 47 years they've stated their goals with crystalline clarity: "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!"

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Zohran Mamdani, Aber Kawas, Rashida Tlaib, Darializa Avila Chevalier.

Those are just some of the Democratic politicians who self-identify as both socialists and Muslims. Which gives me an opportunity to acquaint you with a bit of little-known history.

We'll begin in 1904, in Baku, when a Muslim Social Democratic Party known as Hummet was organized to draw the city's Muslim oil workers into Russia's socialist movement. In 1920, Hummet merged with other leftist groups to form the Azerbaijan Communist Party.

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President Trump has observed that Iran's rulers have "never won a war, but never lost a negotiation." The question that should follow: Why is that?

One reason they don't win wars: They have neither nuclear weapons nor an adequate conventional force – despite what had been a fast-growing arsenal of missiles and drones.

Last year's Twelve-Day War – which culminated in Midnight Hammer, President Trump's deployment of B-2 stealth bombers to destroy subterranean nuclear facilities – was followed by this year's Operation Epic Fury, a 38-day air campaign. These two brief armed conflicts significantly set back Tehran's nuclear and conventional weapons programs. Credit where credit is due.

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Dear Mrs. Trump –

Or may I call you Melania? If that's too familiar, no problem, I understand. But you can certainly call me Cliff!

I'm a long-time admirer. I've heard you speak out for human rights, saying for example: "There is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth: individual freedom."

You've also pressed Russia to return the Ukrainian children its soldiers have abducted. "Reunifying children with their loved ones," you've said, "remains one of the most important global issues today."

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In "Why We Want You to Be Rich," published in 2006, Donald Trump explained that a master negotiator knows "what the other side wants and where they're coming from," and is never afraid to walk away from a bad deal."

Henry Kissinger, writing three months earlier about the clerical dictatorship in Tehran, suggested otherwise:

"A modern, strong, peaceful Iran could become a pillar of stability and progress in the region. This cannot happen unless Iran's leaders decide whether they are representing a cause or a nation — whether their basic motivation is crusading or international cooperation."

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