The Gulf of Tonkin Lies

The 1964 Gulf of Tonkin congressional resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to conduct military attacks in Vietnam. This was considered a blank check for American military intervention that was based on lies. The American destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy were not attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on August 4th 1964, which was used to justify this resolution. This is now widely known, but since the Maddox had been fired upon two days earlier, some feel it was justified. However, few know that the US Navy had been supporting armed attacks along the coast and the Vietnamese were defending themselves. “The Fog of War”; Lesson #7 about the Gulf of Tonkin incident: Related Tale: “The Illusion of South Vietnam” “Nasty! The inside story of Operation 34A“; “The Truth About Tonkin“; Pat Paterson; Navy History Magazine; February 2008 provides an excellent summary: “Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish: The Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 2-4 August 1964,“ originally published in the National Security Agency's classified journal “Cryptologic Quarterly“ in early 2001, provides a comprehensive SIGINT-based account of what happened in the Gulf of Tonkin: Related Tale: “Ten Lost Battles of the Vietnam War” destroys the myth no battles were lost: TAGS: Vietnam War Gulf of Tonkin Vietnam DMZ USS Maddox USS Turner Joy Fog of War Robert McNamara 17th parallel 1954 Geneva accords US Navy history Democratic Republic of Vietnam OPLAN 34A DeSoto patrols CIA Nautilus President Lyndon Johnson Vietnam War Lies Lt Everette Alverez Jr