Chapter 8 - General War

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Chapter 8 - General War
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Vietnam War

• Introduction to the Vietnam War - read this for
  the history
• What are other conflicts with roots in colonial
  empires?
• What would winning have meant?
• Vietnam is now communist - does that matter?
• Why don't we worry about communists any more?

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Key points

• Once the dominos were safe, Vietnam was only a
  proxy for the US/Communist Block conflict
• The same conflicts played out in the mideast
• Johnson and Nixon lied about the conduct of the
  war
• How did this change the relationship between the
  Congress and the President?
• Vietnam was the first modern media war
• Lying to the media became dangerous
• How have we managed the media in the Iraq wars?

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The Tokin Gulf Resolution

• How is the Tokin Gulf incident like WMDs in the
  Iraq war?
• Is the Tokin Gulf Resolution a declaration of
  war?
• Is it anything at all, legally?
• If not, what does that tell us about presidential
  power?
• Why didn't it matter when Congress repealed the
  Tokin Gulf Amendment?
• What did Congress keep doing?

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Orlando v. Laird United States Court of Appeals,
443 F.2d 1039, cert. denied, 404 U.S. 869 (1971)

• Who are plaintiffs?
• What is their claim?
• Why do they have standing when other citizens do
  not?
• What is the mutual participation standard for
  prosecution of the war?
• What is plaintiff's theory on why Congress was
  not free to reject the war?
• Why is resolving this a political question?

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Pentagon Papers

• What were the Pentagon Papers?
• What was their political significance?
• They are discussed more fully in Chapter 37
• Their publication and the attempts to stop it
  were a major national drama

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Holtzman v. Schlesinger, 484 F.2d 1307 (1973)?

• What did the district court order that was being
  appealed?
• Sec. 108. Notwithstanding any other provision of
  law, on or after August 15, 1973, no funds herein
  or heretofore appropriated may be obligated or
  expended to finance directly or indirectly combat
  activities by United States military forces in or
  over or from off the shores of North Vietnam,
  South Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia. and not a
  judicial question. . . ."
• How does this show congressional support for the
  bombing at issue in this case? (Was it before 15
  Aug?)