Editor:

Nearly two-and-a-half years after President Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, the war continues and is quickly losing public support, both at home and abroad.

Clearly, there are U students and faculty members who have strong feelings about the war, as is evidenced by the Opinion page of The Chronicle. Many of the pro-war attitudes expressed in this forum and in other media outlets are laden with political rhetoric and often lack any historical perspective.

To better understand the current situation in Iraq, consider the presidency of Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War.

In August of 1964, Johnson and the U.S. Congress received faulty intelligence from the Defense Department, which incorrectly reported that the North Vietnamese had fired upon a U.S. warship in the Tonkin Gulf.

In response, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the President almost unlimited war powers in Vietnam. Johnson was able to escalate U.S. involvement in Vietnam under the guise of Soviet containment and international security.

It was not until 1971, during the presidency of Richard Nixon, that Congress repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

Apparently, years of brutal combat in Southeast Asia and the loss of 60,000 American lives did not leave a lasting impression on Congress. In 2002, they again gave the president a blank check for the use of military force-this time in Iraq.

With the death toll nearing 2,000, it seems there is no end in sight for U.S. military involvement in the region.

Even the casual observer of history can see that we are repeating the mistakes of the past, which include using faulty intelligence to justify preemptive military action, failing to win the support of our closest allies and granting unrestricted power to the president.

Supporters of the war are quick to present their points and uninformed views-but if they truly understood history, they would realize that we are once again headed down the wrong path.

Jake VanLeeuwen

Junior, History