Vietnam and the Iraq warTODAY IS the 40th anniversary of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, the congressional stamp of approval for the Vietnam War. There are important similarities and differences between the situation then and the Iraq invasion. In both, the justifications for military action were fabricated. President Johnson launched air strikes against Vietnam ostensibly in retaliation for two attacks on US ships -- the first of which was provoked by US maneuvers, the second of which didn't occur. President Bush's arguments for invading Iraq -- weapons of mass destruction and, implicitly, links with the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- have been proven false.
Bush may ignore the lessons of his predecessor, but today's peace movement is more mature and sophisticated than that of the 1960s. In 1964, there was little opposition to our descent into war. Massive protests didn't occur for several years.
Last year millions of people around the world protested in advance of Bush's invasion. Coalitions have brought together labor and Latinos, Greens and Democrats, the suburbs and the inner city. Locally, groups from Dorchester to Arlington are organizing across race and class lines, embracing concerns of justice as well as peace. With smart organizing and hard work, the peace movement can help stop this reckless war. ERIC WELTMAN Cambridge © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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