The American experience in Iraq, as many have pointed out, looks a lot like the American experience in Vietnam. But one element seems to be missing: anti-war protests. There were enormous demonstrations around the world, including in New York and San Francisco, on the eve of invasion in February 2003. But since the war began, protesters have not been part of the picture. Support for the Iraq war and the president’s handling of it are significantly lower than they were for Vietnam and Lyndon Johnson at an analogous point in 1968. Where have all the flower children gone?

The obvious reason students are not marching against the Iraq war is that there is no draft. In the Vietnam era, or at least from 1965 on, young men faced the possibility of conscription. In practice, there were generous deferments and avenues for avoidance, especially for the well-connected. Even so, young men had to do things that were dishonest or dishonourable to avoid being sent against their will to kill and die. Many of the earliest Vietnam demonstrations in Berkeley and elsewhere were specifically protests against the draft.