Tuesday, March 24, 2009

American Government 3/23

In Class - Complete evaluations/critiques of Civil Rights Children's Book. 16 of these are due before you leave today. 4th period - Finish presentations.

Homework - None

QUESTION OF THE WEEK - SINCE WE WILL BE CONTINUING WITH THE 1960'S INTO THE VIETNAM ERA, TAKE A LOOK AT SEVERAL OF THE ARTICLES BELOW OR DO SOME OTHER RESEARCH ON YOUR OWN. SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR IN IRAQ ON MARCH 19, 2003, HOW HAS THE POWER OF THE EXECUTIVE CHANGED AND IS THERE A CORRELATION BETWEEN THE SIMILARITIES OF IRAQ AND VIETNAM? THIS IS DUE ON MONDAY, MARCH 30 BY 11:59 PM.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/03/060703fa_fact1?currentPage=all
http://www.landmarkcases.org/nixon/nixonview.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/opinion/23mon4.html
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/960315in.html
http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/O-W/Presidential-Power-Presidential-war-in-vietnam.html
More to come later. Take a look at these articles. Keyword searches: presidential power and Iraq or Vietnam; executive powers and war; Vietnam and Gulf of Tonkin Resolution; George W. Bush and presidential powers.

34 comments:

stephanie mcphetridge said...

it hasn't really changed much because in a article bush compares his reason for keeping his troopsin iraq with the vietnam war.because presidents are always critisized for their reasoning behind going to war. a lot of men were lost. in vietnam pulling troops out led to suffering and bush was trying not to repeat that.

Jlao said...

Just like the Vietnam War, the Iraq war is very unpopular. The power of the executive hasn't really changed because Bush is keeping the troops in Iraq just like how the troops stayed in Vietnam. Lyndon B. Johnson didn't want to lose Vietnam to Communism and i guess Bush didn't want to lose Iraq to Terrorism. They are both similar in a way were they are both very unpopular wars and many are against it.

davidz said...

At the time we started the war on Iraq, everyone was for it and wanted to get back at the terrorists who attacked America. Now that the war has is still going on and seems as though its not going anywhere people want their troops home. Although the President still has control over was and military forces, Bush did not take out his forces. If they were to take out American forces they would be abandoning other allies that are helping on the war on terrorism. Now the war is similar to the Vietnam war because people want our troops home and the war is going nowhere. I know both President BUsh and Johnson dont want the war to seem like it was for nothing, but spending all this money on the war effort that nobody wants sounds pointless.
-david zapanta

Yesenia said...

The Vietnam war and the Iraq war are very similar, in the way that both of then have no point to be fighting. When the Vietnam war was going on Johnson didnt want to take the troops back home. Bush as a president didnt want to do the same thing. Both of those presidents had a big ego. Hopefully now that we have Obama as president he bring all thetroops back home.

Rocio said...

the war hasnt really changed. it was kind of sad that there is still some troops in iraq but now they are just bascially sitting to see if there was any activity over there. this question was like the hardest for me to answer i hardly understood it even when i looked in the websites you posted:)but also what i did not like about this war was that alot of soldiers and innocent people died. i understood L.B.J. did not want them to turn to communists but come on. bush should not think about that because i doubt iraq would turn communist and we should get out of there but at the same time have some troops there for save keeps:)

Rocio said...

the war hasnt really changed. it was kind of sad that there is still some troops in iraq but now they are just bascially sitting to see if there was any activity over there. this question was like the hardest for me to answer i hardly understood it even when i looked in the websites you posted:)but also what i did not like about this war was that alot of soldiers and innocent people died. i understood L.B.J. did not want them to turn to communists but come on. bush should not think about that because i doubt iraq would turn communist and we should get out of there but at the same time have some troops there for save keeps:)

noggin56 said...

I think it hasnt change in years because somehow we are always in some kind of war. We also never pulled out the soldiers because back then when we pulled them out from vietnam it led them to suffering. Now that i think about it, it has change.

-Victor Lopez

ricky ;] said...

to me the executive branch hasnt really changed much at all, even though congress have the power to deceide if we go to war or not the presidents the one who controls it, the iraq war and vietnam war are similar in many ways such as the hostillity the troops face, and its a conflict not a war. also there is no timeline, which i think is a crock of crap. Obama please help us

Jonathan Picado said...

the executive power hasn't changed to much, just as years ago they involed America once again in a conflict with no reason where the only result has been the death of thousands human being including soldiers, civilians, women,and even children.It might be change now with the new president in charge Barack Obama hopefully or at least it is what Americans are waiting for. but before that Hitory has not changed as it should.

pfcsimonsdanyell said...

Both wars were very unpopular in society. Also the fact that both of them are "household" wars, Vietnam more so by the fact that soldiers were shown on t.v. to be killed and tortured. The Iraq war is a "household" war because its one of the biggest wars lately and your always hearing parents of troops morning for their children. But I think that they are very different. I think the Iraq war IS OUR WORST war, the weapon technology is much better then back then the money spent is higher and more importantly it wasn't handled properly.

Arnold said...

I think that the war from vietnam and the war that we are having right now with Iraq are both similar in many ways. One way that they are very similar in is that the people didnt want the war from vietnam to keep going but Lyndon B. Johnson did and with the war that we have right now with Iraq is the same thing. People think that this war shouldnt be going too but the same thing with the war from vietnam president Bush want it to go on and really for no reasson. Well i just think that these to wars shouldnt even have start it their was no good reason for them to start.

Jon G. said...

It sounds like both of these wars are very parallel to each other. Both are unpopular, many people died during these two wars, and both wars are based on government reactions to other countries. Both wars are bad.

~>F0NZ0<~ said...

WELL... both wars have there similarities like for example we are fighting for nothing...well atleast thats my point of view....and vietnam was also pointless.... we lost so many american soldiers in both vietnam and iraq. You might say that we do have a reason for fighting in the war in the middle east but i dont think its a good enough reason... im glas obama's new plan is going to bring back i think atleast half the troops.. BANG!!!!!!

Mauricio said...

Bush is afraid to lose Iraq to terrorists. The concept of the war hasnt changed much due to the fact that the war, like vietnam, they are unliked and very unpopular...when September 11th occured, every one wanted to get back at the "terrorist" for attacking our country and now that it has been more than 3 years everyone is like "ughhh", 'get over it"...

ms.sparks said...

i think that the vietnam war was a way bigger fight than iraq. Well the both didnt really have much reasons to fight but i dont think the power is the same i think the power now has gone down but when the vietnam war was on there was alot of power but im happy we got over with that and hopefully there are no more wwars.
LIZ MERLAN

Jp #24 said...

How are they alike ? Well you could say these that this war isnt liked , dont know who the enemy is , and no one really knows why we are there ? You could say that they are alike as they both used some of the same tactics. As Nixon got caught and introuble for wire tapping Bush didnt he got a law passed that it is in order for the US to know whats happening and to stop Terroism.

Anonymous said...

THe power of the execuive hasnt realy chnged because bush is keeping troops in Iraq like he kept troops in Vietnam.Its funny how when a war starts all the people were all for it and since we arent really going anywhere with it then its like the people want their troops home.
fernando per.3

adriana said...

The executive power hasnt changed much because there has been no withdrawl of the war. The wars are very similiar in the fact that we dont really understand our purpose for fighting. Both the Iraq and Vietnam enemies refuse/d to go by the rules and are willing to die for their beliefs. Both wars were also of choice, they supposedly had a purpose to begin with but later they didnt know why we were even fighting. Most people in America diagreed with both wars and want or wanted the troops back home. The wars were pointless because it got nowhere. For vietnam the spread of communism didnt spread like they thought. Same for Iraq, the have not found any WMD and now the reason is to spread democracy. For Vietnam there was no real plan for victory and there doesn't seem to be one for Iraq either. It is not till we bring back our troops that we'll realize that the war was as pointless and the Vietnam war, and we only lost many lifes for nothing!



-adriana bernal

L e O said...

I think since the beginning of the war in Iraq, the executive power has changed for the fact that we have a new president, and things are obviously not going to be exactly the same as before. Both the Iraq and Vietnam war are and was being fought to have democracy in the nation. Vietnam started off as an unpopular war, and grew to became even more unpopular as time went on. On the other hand, The Iraq war supported by many many people, because of the 9/11 attacks. Even though bush commented that troops should of stayed in Vietnam longer. This movie is really intersting http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-594683847743189197
it talks about a couple different things, like religion, government, the economy, etc.. but if you want to watch the vietnam part, skip to time 1:34:34 .... enjoy

Elizabeth said...

I think the power of the executive really changed when Bush became president because all he wanted to do was fight with Iraq. the Iraq war is very similar to the conflict in Vietnam because it seems like the U.S. is poking its nose in another countires business. people dont understand what is the real reason we are fighting in Iraq and people didnt understand the real reason we fought in Vietnam. In both conflicts many innocent soldiers and people died. Again in both conflicts the fighing is seeming to get us no where and we are kinda wasting time fighting for no true cause.

macrina said...

its interesting how the vietnam war and the iraq war are similar. if the vietnam war was pointless,depressing and the reason why the US lost so many soldiers then why would we do the same mistake and go to war with iraq.i dont areally think the executive power has changed beacuse then the the US wouldve not done the same mistake.

Frank said...

The vietnam war and the iraq war are both very similar to each other in the sense that the government used the peoples emotions to motivate them for help. THe vietnam played on the peoples fear of communism and the iraq war played on peoples fear of WMD's being in the hands of "bad people".The presidents also continued the war even though majority cant stand the idea of it continuing and they have no reason to continue it. Also the people want their troops back after ceertain incidents happen such as with the troops torturing the P.O.W.'s and then there was also the Tet Offensive that caused the public to see how many lives were lost for the americans which scared them.

esmeralda said...

in fact the executive power hasnt really changed much in the way that we're basically repeating history again w/ the war in iraq. back in the 60's we had the war in vietnam going on and that war wasnt very poppular as well. many didnt really find a reason to it exactly as what is happening today with our troops being in irag. actually now it has spread into iran pakistan and such making us ask the question, "why are we doing this??" one reason is to find the weapons of mass destruction. they have not been found, and yet were still there after 6 years. another is for the porpose of democracy. but as i learned in the past 2 days, some sort of voting and decracy has already taken place, but yet is the war over? nope. this might end up being a mistake just like what happened w/ the vietnam war, the US ended up being defeated and like what an aricle said 'the dominoes did not fall as expected." hopefully this war doenst continue for that much longer because all we are going to end up w/ is just more deaths, and really no exact solution, since there isnt an exact reason of why the US is there to begin with.

demodext said...

Vietnam and Iraq have many differences but i think similarities overcome them. Our troops well united states troops are still in Iraq just like when they were in Vietnam they wouldn't be withdrawn. Many if not most of the people highly disagree with the war but the bush administration did not care. and the executive power has not changed because the former president bush had the final word of saying who or when any troop would leave Iraq.

-Ricardo Vargas p.3

jackie said...

When asked about recent polls that show about two-thirds of Americans say the fight in Iraq is not worth it, Cheney replied, "So?" explains alot about the publics view of the War in Iraq, as compared to the peace rallies and war protests of the vietnam era also express the same public grief. However, the two wars began with public backing and nation wide patrionage on our alleged atacks(said to be conspiracies;])with the entire country searching for our revenge. Both were and have been lenghty and full of blood, lives lost that many see as unecessary. So heavily critized and nationally distliked Pres. Bush constantly reminded the country of our duties to end terrorism like other promises to end communism made in 'nam. The commander in chief is meant to comand and direct the military forces( like the article describes), and cannot and should not be allowed to overide laws allowing him to conduct powers meant only to those in congress. With president bush constantly rerminding the public of his position in the military he allegedly expected to have the congress act on with his every whim, and becuase of such bad critizism and effects led by the decisions made, congress could be shortening the leash on executive power to avoid being or at least avoid giving the US the appearance of being an imperalist nation.
-jackie reyes

kenzie said...

I think there are big similarities between the Iraq war and Vietnam. for one they are both "conflicts" we cant win. We did not stop communism and I am pasitive we will never stop terrorism. If we do defeate al-Qaeda another terrorist group will just jump up and replace it. Good people are across the seas dieing everyday for a war that I dont see we can win. I think that the executive branch has to much power. The President pritty much cheated his way into Iraq. He was able to bypass Congress because we were attacked. I know that the President was trying to protect the US people but I want to know what Congress thought of the US going to Iraq.

keisha sharisse .. said...

The vietnam war and the war in iraq are very similar. the war in vietnam was unpopular, just like the one in iraq is. to me, its pretty much the same. a lot of people didnt know why the troops stayed in vietnam as long as they did, and a lot of people now dont know why we're still in iraq. personally, i think we're trying to control something we can't. i think thats what happened in vietnam with communism, and thats whats going on now in iraq with terrorism. war doesnt always fix a problem, there's still communism in the world today, and terrorism will probably still be going on 50 years from now. .

Hugo Ruiz said...

I agree it hasnt really changed,and I guess that bush did not know that history is repeatig its self in front of his face. Many people do not want the solders in Iraq now just like the people did not want the solders in Vietnam. Bush wanted the solders in Iraq because of terrorism, and the other president did not want to withdraw the solders from Vietnam do to communism. Even the style of battle is kinda the same. t h e Iraqis use car booms, and are willing to commit suicide to kill the American solders. The Vietnamese used guerrilla warfare to hit the solders by surprise just like the car bomb. I read in a book that the Vietnamese kids hired by Vietnamese solders would offer the American solders soda with ice mixed with small shards of glass. The glass would cut up their intestines and infect them and die. If history keeps repeating its self what will happen next?

Mireya said...

I think that the so call war in Iraq and in Viatnam are particly related both of have the same issues. Like we said in class there is not even a good reason for them to being in war. I believe that the executive power continues to be the same because they have the same tactics to take them out of Iraq the same way they did in Viatnam. They are the same in the fact that lots of soldiers are dieing for there country and each year is more.

megan2317 said...

the powers of the executive branch havent changed because that would take a change in the constitution. the two wars are similar in the way that america won every battle they fought in each, however they both became politicized and lost the support of the public. in vietnam the troops were pulled out before the objective was completed because of pressure put on politicians by the public. the same is now happening with iraq. i believe that both are also similar by not really being necessary but now in iraq we cant really leave until we have finnished what we started.
megan per.3

mnguyen said...

I do not think that the power of the executive branch has changed compared to the Vietnam "conflict" and the Iraq "conflict". The president might not have declared war, but in both cases both president gave the order to send troops out. Is the U.S. intruding too much in other countries business? I think so... but we as a country are always trying to be the "bigger" country and do the right thing. Could this be another repeat in history? I believe it is, but the Iraq conflict is the worse. We have lost so many troops in a shorter time period. I think we need to be careful about what we let out in public about bringing back the troops. We are unsure what the outcome will be. there might be more chaos in Iraq after some troops leave because some may think there will be less of a threat. But i am sure that Obama will not let anything get out of control.

adriana said...

i think that since the beginingn of the war the executive power has changed because obama is our new president and he doesnt want the troops to be in iraq nemore...the war is like vietnam because we didnt really know what we are or were doing there...

Gladys said...

Sorry Mr. Palo I know its late.....How ever, i do not think that the power of the executive has really changed. The Iraq war and Vietnam have a lot of things similar such as the fact that we really don't know our purpose there. We went into these wars looking for economic interests such as oils, and land etc. We also, have the highest amount of soldiers killed in these wars.

Gladys said...
This comment has been removed by the author.