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    Congress revisits approval for Iraq invasion, recalling change of heart on Vietnam

    In terms of domestic politics, the Iraq War followed the trajectory of the Vietnam War, which also relied on a resolution supporting the use of military force that Congress passed and later repealed.
    by Ron Elving Mar 25, 2023 6 minutes
    U.S marines and Iraqis are seen on April 9, 2003, as the statue of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is toppled at al-Fardous square in Baghdad.

    In the coming weeks, both chambers of Congress are expected to debate and vote on a bill repealing the authority that Congress gave President George W. Bush to use force against Iraq.

    It has been more than half a century since Congress repealed a similar resolution. That was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964, which had allowed then-President Lyndon Johnson to escalate the conflict in Vietnam.

    That war ultimately cost more than 55,000 American lives and many times that many Vietnamese lives, destabilizing the entire region.

    We will return to that precedent in a moment. For now, Congress is focused on the fallout from its decision to greenlight a war with Iraq in October 2002. The U.S. and its allies invaded and occupied Iraq the following March. It was 20 years ago this month.

    There was no declaration of war against Iraq, although the Constitution gave that power to Congress in its Article I. Congress has not declared war on

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