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Being a senior citizen I groaned at a BBC headline, a rerun, showing dry British humour: US-Iran close to a deal… again.
At my age, I’ve seen things happen… “again.”
For example, some fool fashion designer wanted the RCMP to wear normal black neck ties. This would have been within a few years of the Department of Justice changing to the Department of Solicitor General, when some fashion fool designed nice neck ties for the prison guards.
Maybe it was the same fool in both cases.
The repeated mistake was in not realizing that folks who escort criminals don’t want to wear a noose around their necks that can be tightened. A clip-on tie is gentlemanly enough.
Speaking of uniforms, it was around then that the Boy Scout and the Wolf Cubs switched from green to grey—and the promotion of their new outfits, for their adult leaders, led to a controversy: a controversy repeated a few years later when the navy and air force and army all changed to wearing the same colour. No, not khaki: some new-fangled vivid green.
Maybe the Scouts and the Forces both had the same expert do their photographs for their trade magazines. (The Cubs and Scouts had Canadian Boy.) The repeated mistake was when the men for both magazines, modelling the new apparel, were only regular members of their organizations, but the Barbies for both photo-shoots were borrowed from the ranks of fashion models. Although this was a tad before “women’s liberation” the double standard did not pass unnoticed—Strident letters to the editor! And no, not because the ladies wanted to see “Ken,” because this was still a few years before women’s lib produced Playgirl magazine.
Maybe it’s like that philosopher said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (George Santayana)
Watching history doing reruns, I try to laugh, instead of getting curmudgeonly… sometimes I settle for dry humour. When clicking on BBC News site about the US-Iran fighting. I found links to older “related news articles,” news where Americans were apparently thinking they don’t need their congress-critter to be involved in holding the president accountable by lawfully asking him to explain why he elected to choose war… No questions needed because after all, there will be “a deal” within “two weeks,” what the British call “a fortnight.”
Trump’s “excursion” started in February. Being an old man, I really wouldn’t believe there would be any deal during any of the fortnights passing by in March and April and May and, by the time you read this, June.
Because I can remember when Very Important People kept saying “there is a light a the end of tunnel…” meaning victory!, at last, in the Republic of South Vietnam… I later discovered that some critical information was available, but not being reported. In fact, the army and the C.IA. conspired together —not a theory, this happened— to cook the books to agree on the numbers for how many communists were being killed (body count) and added to the fight (reinforcements). They deceived not only the people on Main Street but the people on Capital Hill. And no, the army could not possibly add “sufficient” reinforcements faster than the People’s Republic of North Vietnam could insert guerrillas into the South’s jungle, not given the tried and proven ratio that ten regular soldiers are needed for every insurgent.
This when ordinary people spoke of a “credibility gap.” This while the bombing and re-bombing of North Vietnam by the Americans was resulting in “merely rearranging the rubble”—I make no comment on the status of rubble in Iran .
Note: The North enjoyed ample manpower: in fact, when their regular army crossed into South Vietnam in 1975 they had more tanks and trucks than the German army going into France.
As for Iran, it was back before Covid-19 that syndicated Canadian writer Gwynn Dyer reported the Iranians had been six months away from having the Bomb… year after year after year …with Iran feeling quite all right with the permanent six months. Dyer said every State Department in Europe knew this. Hence Obama could craft a good “no nukes” treaty. (footnote)
Meanwhile President Trump, in his chosen bubble of no-history, is living his life unteachable by his Secretary of State, or learned economists wearing tweed and puffing pipes, or anyone else. For Trump, every day is Ground Hog Day.
It would be nice to think that congress has avoided the rodent’s Day, has learned from Vietnam, and has learned, from hearing the facts and figures coming out of Trump’s mouth, that “Trump is not a source!” And then begun to firmly question the pentagon. But no, I don’t think the critters dare to face a credibility gap.
In my day, during Nam, we wore big white buttons: “Question Authority.”
Wearing my red MAGA cap —Make America Go Away— I remain amused. Ordinary Americans, with their pocket computers, are walking about in their exciting, new improved, media-saturated landscape. Saturated, yes, but they remain as uninformed as the congress people they voted for. ‘Twas ever so.
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Sean Crawford
Kamloops
June
2026
After-note As Regards Iran:
As of mid-June, Wednesday, there is no talk of a formal treaty, while the media is using the informal US term “deal,” at term they may have obtained from hanging around the White House; there is only talk of a Memorandum Of Understanding, an MOU that is not to be formally signed at a table, with mutual dignity, but to be “digitally signed” on Friday.
Human factor: There are rumours that Congress, having been allowed no input so far, is suddenly to be dragged in so as to implicate them, as well as talk that the vice president, Vance, will be presented as the “fall guy” responsible. The former is resisting, the latter will probably do the loyalty thing. Such is rumour.
Footnotes:
~As for Dyer saying Iran went for years not wanting nukes, here’s a video post by Belle of the Ranch
~As for the Iranian common people, the outlook is grim.
~As for Trump being enabled, by Very Important People, to be in his bubble, here is my only footnote to my March essay on craziness coming to Canada:
Update, March 19: But what if, as in the anecdote above, President Trump’s ministers agree that he should ignore them? What if the directors for the Central Intelligence Agency and for National Intelligence say they don’t have to advise Trump, not even to offer him their threat assessment for Iran? At a briefing, a frustrated congressman asked them, “Why do you even have a job?” Hear the recording on The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell, audio only.
