DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970 | ""Iowa '70: Riot, Rhetoric, Responsibility?"" Page 37

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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1970

""Iowa '70: Riot, Rhetoric, Responsibility?"" Page 37

609 

The fact that the Vietnam War has never been given clear-cit approval by the American people had been one of the causes for the division of the country over the war. Like the quicksand victim the nation sank over the years slowly but inexorably into one of one of its most costly conflicts. The crucial decisions of involvement, escalation and de-escalation have been made in labyrinths fo the Executive branch far from direct contact with the representatives of the people. 
This characteristic of the war had led more and more of America's people, especially the young to question whether we live in a democracy, and to justify a real but undefined revolution. The tactics of the street demonstrations and direct action were borrowed from the civil-rights movement, and as the years passed, many had come to believe violence was justified to stop the violence of our institutions. 
The Cambodian invasion was especially indicative of how little the people had to do with the decisions in Asia. Congress had not been consulted but had given an opposite impression fo the policy in progress. 
Some speakers here and elsewhere said the Cambodian invasion proved that the system would not end the war and that action outside the system was the only way left to end it. But the killings at Kent State and the reaction against student violence had convinced many that if the war was to be ended it could only be ended through the system.
A bi-partisan group of Senate liberals saw the problem as not institutional but as a lack of will in the part of Congress to assert its constitutional responsibilities. Senator Hughes and others introduced " The Amendment to End the War" at the crucial time to capture the energy of those students who considered throwing rocks and breaking windows as futile and self-defeating as the Indochina War. 
Students and other concerned citizens gathered at Wesley House and St. Paul's Lutheran Church to organize support for Amendment 609, " The Amendment to End the War." Canvasers went door to door and asked shoppers at supermarkets and downtown stores to sign statements of support for the amendment. Others prepared to do the same thing in their hometowns after they left the campus. 
This group of citizens and students worked within the system not because they were so optimistic about a response, but because they thought this might be one of the last opportunities to end the war through the voice of the people in Congress before the country could be destroyed by the war or the revolution. 
33

[cartoon]
" Strange Sort of 'Democracy' We're Fighting to Preserve!"
5 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ADVOCATING PEACE TALKS WITH VIETCONG 
OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DZU
THIEU REGIME
Yardley 

Reprinted by Permission

from The Sun, Baltimore, Md.

Saving...

609 The fact that the Vietnam War has never been given clear-cit approval by the American people had been one of the causes for the division of the country over the war. Like the quicksand victim the nation sank over the years slowly but inexorably into one of one of its most costly conflicts. The crucial decisions of involvement, escalation and de-escalation have been made in labyrinths fo the Executive branch far from direct contact with the representatives of the people. This characteristic of the war had led more and more of America's people, especially the young to question whether we live in a democracy, and to justify a real but undefined revolution. The tactics of the street demonstrations and direct action were borrowed from the civil-rights movement, and as the years passed, many had come to believe violence was justified to stop the violence of our institutions. The Cambodian invasion was especially indicative of how little the people had to do with the decisions in Asia. Congress had not been consulted but had given an opposite impression fo the policy in progress. Some speakers here and elsewhere said the Cambodian invasion proved that the system would not end the war and that action outside the system was the only way left to end it. But the killings at Kent State and the reaction against student violence had convinced many that if the war was to be ended it could only be ended through the system. A bi-partisan group of Senate liberals saw the problem as not institutional but as a lack of will in the part of Congress to assert its constitutional responsibilities. Senator Hughes and others introduced " The Amendment to End the War" at the crucial time to capture the energy of those students who considered throwing rocks and breaking windows as futile and self-defeating as the Indochina War. Students and other concerned citizens gathered at Wesley House and St. Paul's Lutheran Church to organize support for Amendment 609, " The Amendment to End the War." Canvasers went door to door and asked shoppers at supermarkets and downtown stores to sign statements of support for the amendment. Others prepared to do the same thing in their hometowns after they left the campus. This group of citizens and students worked within the system not because they were so optimistic about a response, but because they thought this might be one of the last opportunities to end the war through the voice of the people in Congress before the country could be destroyed by the war or the revolution. 33 [cartoon] " Strange Sort of 'Democracy' We're Fighting to Preserve!" 5 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ADVOCATING PEACE TALKS WITH VIETCONG OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DZU THIEU REGIME Yardley Reprinted by Permission from The Sun, Baltimore, Md.