General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDoes anyone remember the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
It was August 2nd, 1964.
http://www.historynet.com/case-closed-the-gulf-of-tonkin-incident.htm
<snip>
In the first few days of August 1964, a series of events off the coast of North Vietnam and decisions made in Washington, D.C., set the United States on a course that would largely define the next decade and weigh heavily on American foreign policy to this day. What did and didnt happen in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2 and 4 has long been in dispute, but the decisions that the Johnson Administration and Congress made based on an interpretation of those events were undeniably monumental.
While many facts and details have emerged in the past 44 years to persuade most observers that some of the reported events in the Gulf never actually happened, key portions of the critical intelligence information remained classified until recently.
...
n late 2007, that information was finally made public when an official National Security Agency (NSA) history of signals intelligence (SIGINT) in Vietnam, written in 2002, was released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. With that report, after nearly four decades, the NSA officially reversed its verdict on the events of August 4, 1964, that had led that night to President Lyndon Johnsons televised message to the nation: The initial attack on the destroyer Maddox, on August 2, was repeated today by a number of hostile vessels attacking two U.S. destroyers with torpedoes
. Air action is now in execution against gunboats and certain supporting facilities in North Vietnam which have been used in these hostile operations.
The next day, the president addressed Congress, seeking the power to to take all necessary measures in support of freedom and in defense of peace in Southeast Asia.
..more at link
BSdetect
(8,999 posts)guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Supply side economics under Reagan, Bush the lesser, and now Trump.
And GOP voters will, of course, be fooled once again.
spanone
(135,900 posts)guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)and spending on Big Bird.
HoneyBadger
(2,297 posts)Those people should get reparations for what we did
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)And with the internet everyone will "remember"
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)How many Asians were killed and injured? How many are still being killed or injured by land mines?
How many countries were illegally bombed?
How much the Vietnam War still costs the government each year?
sarge43
(28,946 posts)From 1956 through 1964: 416
1965 to 1973: 57,804
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)zentrum
(9,865 posts)...about MacNammara a few years ago that was all about this phony operation.
Good point. Yes, it sure feels like it's happening again. Dems need to remember and scream holy hell even if they don't have enough votes to stop it.
radical noodle
(8,015 posts)That's when Johnson lost me.
Mr.Bill
(24,334 posts)He always said they were ordered to shoot at nothing.
Omaha Steve
(99,780 posts)And I'm old...
Amaryllis
(9,526 posts)SHRED
(28,136 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)tclambert
(11,087 posts)Demonaut
(8,931 posts)I was one
VOX
(22,976 posts)If you were aware and conscious during JFK's assassination, major events after that were viewed very cautiously and with a great deal of circumspection.
Gothmog
(145,666 posts)Liberal In Texas
(13,592 posts)Excuse, to get us involved in Viet Nam more heavily.
Why do you bring it up?
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,858 posts)It's another reason that I don't trust our government whenever I hear the "drumbeats" for war. The evidence better be damn strong that it's "necessary" or I'd prefer that we not get involved.
The many days of misinformation and superficial "patriotism" leading up to the idiotic invasion of Iraq was a bad enough experience for me. It's not like segments of the media weren't telling Americans that inspectors weren't finding evidence of WMD's. It's not like there were no foreign affair analysts who correctly predicted the civil unrest (and the death of many innocents) that an invasion would create.
Someone recommended a book by Thomas Friedman to me and I replied that I never want to read anything by him after he'd written articles in favor of the invasion. The reply to me was that "everyone makes mistakes" and "he's sorry about it" now. Boo-hoo for him!
Remember the scientists who thought they created "cold fusion" years ago? Their careers were ruined by it, yet they didn't make a "mistake" that got hundreds of thousands of civilians killed, a smaller number of our own soldiers killed, and the later turmoil that still exists to this day.
Oh, and let's not forget all the money this country spent on that BS! That's actually a minor point for me compared to my previous ones, but I realize that's most important to some Americans (usually Republicans).
I had flashbacks when I saw reports of the USS Carl Vinson not being close to the Korean Peninsula as previously reported. There were even reports, supposedly from Japanese officials, that the aircraft carrier was in that area and being followed by ships from China and Russia! The news then showed old pictures of ships followed the aircraft carrier, implying that it was happening currently. How was any of that happening when our ship wasn't even remotely close to that area at the time?! And why didn't anyone at the Pentagon correct those mistaken reports after all those days?!
It's so rotten and it makes me ill.
It can easily happen again. All it will take is around-the-clock coverage of supposed "threats" with several "experts" being interviewed about it (like they were while the Russian and Chinese ships were supposedly trailing our aircraft carrier that wasn't even there), and a bunch of paranoid Americans will support something stupid.