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Line 8: − − Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara has described the August 4th attack and the subsequent push to war as occuring under genuine confusion and good faith. <ref>The Fog of War (2003): A documentary/interview with Robert S. McNamara [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8653788864462752804&ei=sA1nS5aRL4WUqwLop4TuCg&q=the+fog+of+war&hl=en&client=firefox-a#]</ref>: − <blockquote> − "It was just confusion, and events afterwards showed that our judgment that we'd been attacked that day was wrong. It didn't happen. And the judgment that we'd been attacked on August 2nd was right. We had been, although that was disputed at the time. So we were right once and wrong once. Ultimately, President Johnson authorized bombing in response to what he thought had been the second attack; it hadn't occurred but that's irrelevant to the point I'm making here. He authorized the attack on the assumption it had occurred, and his belief that it was a conscious decision on the part of the North Vietnamese political and military leaders to escalate the conflict and an indication they would not stop short of winning. We were wrong, but we had in our minds a mindset that led to that action. And it carried such heavy costs. We see incorrectly or we see only half of the story at times." − </blockquote>
Gulf of Tonkin incident (view source)
Revision as of 21:49, February 1, 2010
, 21:49, February 1, 2010Reverted edits by Burtcord (Talk) to last version by Aschlafly
An official naval historian account reads as follows:<ref>http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq120-1.htm]</ref>
An official naval historian account reads as follows:<ref>http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq120-1.htm]</ref>
*In response to the actual attack of 2 August and the suspected attack of 4 August, the President ordered Seventh Fleet carrier forces to launch retaliatory strikes against North Vietnam. On 5 August, aircraft from carriers Ticonderoga and USS Constellation (CVA 64) destroyed an oil storage facility at Vinh and damaged or sank about 30 enemy naval vessels in port or along the coast. Of greater significance, on 7 August the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed the so-called Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which enabled Johnson to employ military force as he saw fit against the Vietnamese Communists. In the first months of 1965, the President ordered the deployment to South Vietnam of major U.S. ground, air, and naval forces.
*In response to the actual attack of 2 August and the suspected attack of 4 August, the President ordered Seventh Fleet carrier forces to launch retaliatory strikes against North Vietnam. On 5 August, aircraft from carriers Ticonderoga and USS Constellation (CVA 64) destroyed an oil storage facility at Vinh and damaged or sank about 30 enemy naval vessels in port or along the coast. Of greater significance, on 7 August the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed the so-called Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which enabled Johnson to employ military force as he saw fit against the Vietnamese Communists. In the first months of 1965, the President ordered the deployment to South Vietnam of major U.S. ground, air, and naval forces.
== References ==
== References ==