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

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/25/ [login to see] /congress-repeal-iraq-war-aumf-vietnam
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It has been more than half a century since Congress repealed a similar resolution.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.