Repeating History?

           The use of chemical weapons in Syria caused a huge out roar in 2013. It was one of the hottest topics during the year. And while our government has made other issues more public lately, the topic of Syria still lies unresolved. The other day I came across an interesting article on foxnews.com. The article immediately grabbed my attention by its pretty "to the point" title, "Like it or not, Constitution allows Obama to strike Syria without Congressional approval."  The article states that "The White House again has decided it does not need Congress’s blessing to bomb targets in Syria related to the chemical weapons attack."

           Recently in my American Studies class, we have been studying past wars and conflicts in American history. One war in particular that fascinated me was the Vietnam war, not actually a war at all. That is because congress didn't actually declare war. The article reminds us that Article 1 Section 8 of the US constitution gives only congress the power to officially declare war. However, during Vietnam the Gulf of Tonkin resolution gave the president power to put troops in Vietnam. Some considered this the president declaring war, but technically this is not an official war because it was not declared by congress. Giving the executive branch the power to send troops to occupy an area, and carry out basically a war, was a very controversial thing. Millions of opposers nationwide gathered in anti-war rallies and unions across the nation (as shown in the video here). 

            The Vietnam war incident seems to sum up perfectly the public opposition caused when the government invests all power to take military action in the excessive branch. It seems odd that after such reaction before, now the government is giving Obama the power to do the same. To me, it seems odd that what so many people opposed before, could happen again. What if Obama was to start an unofficial war in Syria? I would argue that we would see such violent protests as during the Vietnam war. I wonder if our government, or Americans in general, really take history in account when making decisions. Or, if they choose to focus on certain successes and forget about some of the bad associated with it. What do you think? Do Americans really learn from their history?