WHY the war in Iran? The “American people” don’t truly know, and, except for what “the public” has been told, neither does Congress. Not yet…
…If I had left out the word “Continues” in my title then I wonder how many readers would have jumped to the conclusion that Iran War means the most recent war, and not, say, the long war of Iran against Iraq? American readers would have jumped for sure, because of “American exceptionalism” and “hubris.” Only Americans themselves can believe in the first term, and the second term is used when the rest of us roll our eyes at US citizens.
Don’t worry, I’ll get back to Iran. But first:
Luckily for Yankees, their artists have the ability to surmount their culture. No wonder right wing authorities always go after artists—while the Trump regime is going after the liberal arts at universities. (I’m serious, I subscribe to Inside Higher Ed) In the US today, one of my favourite artists is the humour writer who scripted The Trouble With Tribbles for the old Star Trek series. David Gerrold wrote a novel: his A Matter For Men takes place when Americans have lost their hubris because they lost a war—and the terms of the Moscow Treaty included giving up most of their armed forces. So they wouldn’t be tempted to go to war again. And the world is fine with that—like how countries today are distrustful and grimacing at the “bad guy nation, not to be trusted, allied with the biggest dictators in the world against Ukraine:” the US of A.
In the novel, in flashbacks, the hero is in high school. I interpret his teacher being as frustrated as any driving instructor who senses his students will break with expectations just as soon as they are driving on their own. The hero’s teacher, though, is not just any teacher. Employed by the Pentagon, he has permission to yell and stuff down their throats expectations for citizenship and for respecting The US Constitution—at the time of publication, 1983, no one dreamed that one day Congress would ignore The Constitution in order to be a rubber stamp for the current occupant of the White House.
He explains that, after high school, they will be responsible for ensuring their president doesn’t engage in “military adventurism.”—the book was published less than a decade after a president had initiated bombing, not where he had permission, the Republic of South Vietnam, but secretly in innocent countries: Laos and Cambodia—Hey, imagine how innocent Iraqis recently felt, engaged in negotiations, like diplomats in Washington before Pearl Harbor, only to find themselves Pearl Harbored by the Great Satan.
After telling the kids they are responsible —“no saying ‘let George do it’”— for preventing a president’s adventures, he asks them a question, something like “who else could have that responsibility?” I can imagine the teens, being kids, trying to shrug off citizen responsibility, even hypothetically, for when they become adults.
One answer is Congress, unless one lives in the year 2026.
After the adventures of President Nixon —whom some say was a good smart man, except for Watergate— Congress passed a law. If the president bombs a nation, then he must admit to Congress in writing within 48 hours that he is bombing, and the affair must be turned over to Congress within 60 days. After all, two heads are better than one, and a single head in the White House, even of a very smart guy like Richard Nixon, is not a safe place for something as grave as war.
As weeks have turned into months have turned into seasons Congress still has no oversight, no authority to determine WHY the conflict began. Are US bases around Iran in the Middle East being destroyed? Congress has no access to official photographs or army intelligence. (They say desperate servicemen, risking treason, are smuggling photographs out, photographs of ruined unsalvageable bases) So much for the 60-day deadline.
This because the current occupant, a convicted felon, found supposed “loopholes.” The first ceasefire meant the 60-day clock had reset, he argued, with new bombings being a totally new war, and, within each 60-days, new ceasefires…
While republican Congress critters and MAGA-cult members agree with this felonious behaviour, other people, including me, just don’t.
Now a new November 3rd Congress majority is replacing the old despicable rotten one. I hope a law will be passed to give Congress oversight. Then again, Congress passed a law to release the Epstein Files, and look how the felon prevented that.
As the Iran war continues…
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Sean Crawford
North of Montana
November
2026
Imagination note: Scientists in 1980, opening a magic “time-cupboard,” would have no trouble with David Gerrold’s 1983 novel… much trouble with a document about Covid-19 ravaging the world… but this blog essay depicting an America of 2026 would truly make their jaws drop.
History note: Hubris is why Americans don’t admit that on D-Day some of the beaches were assigned to British forces, and honestly don’t know that the beach adjacent to them, Juno Beach, was assigned solely to their northern neighbours, Canadians. (While the US forces only had to assault Utah Beach and Omaha Beach)
But I’m not bitter. “Bygones,” I say, while German war veterans (as immigrants to Canada) have officially been allowed into the Royal Canadian Legion.
