This article will show that President Lyndon B. Johnson twisted the Gulf of Tonkin incident into aFalse Flagto start a war between America and North Vietnam. A skirmish and confused reports of a second engagement two days later led President Lyndon B. Johnson to order airstrikes against North . This territorial limit was unrecognized by the United States. Two days later, on August 7, Congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the president authority to increase U.S. involvement in the war between North and South Vietnam. Undersecretary of State George Ball told a British journalist after the war that "at that time many people were looking for any excuse to initiate bombing". The second Tonkin Gulf incident was claimed to have taken place on August 4, 1964. It is not NSA's intention to prove or disprove any one set of conclusions, many of which can be drawn from a thorough review of this material. After the second attack, the U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution almost unanimously, allowing the federal government to take all necessary measures to protect U.S. forces in Vietnam. False Flags Nero Ft. Sumter USS Maine RMS Lusitania Reichstag Fire Pearl Harbor Operation Gladio Operation Paperclip Operation Northwoods Gulf of Tonkin U.S.S. The two destroyers stayed miles away from the coastlines in the Gulf of Tonkin. 1964 naval confrontation between North Vietnam and the United States, Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1964. 1. Because the enemy's flag, instead of the flag of the real country of the attacking ship, was hung, it was called a "false flag" attack. Dispropaganda is 100% independent non partisan and non profit, in order to keep the site up we rely on financial supprt from our readers. After these first shots, the North Vietnamese forces made their attack. The Gulf of Tonkin incident is the name given to two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. Nations have often done this by staging a real or simulated attack on their own side. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara slowly increased military pressureon the coast of North Vietnam, aiding the South in offensive strikes and intelligence-gathering. [25] During an evening of rough weather and heavy seas, the destroyers received radar, sonar, and radio signals that they believed signaled another attack by the North Vietnamese navy. During the hours of darkness, in rough weather and heavy seas, the Maddox and the Turner Joy reported receiving radar, and sonar signals believed caused by the North Vietnamese ships. [5], While doubts regarding the perceived second attack have been expressed since 1964, it was not until years later that it was shown conclusively never to have happened. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution authorized President Lyndon Johnson to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further. [11] In 2005, an internal National Security Agency historical study was declassified; it concluded that Maddox had engaged the North Vietnamese Navy on August 2, but that the incident of August 4 was based on bad naval intelligence and misrepresentations of North Vietnamese communications.[5]. After the skirmish, Johnson ordered Maddox and Turner Joy to stage daylight runs into North Vietnamese waters, testing the 12 nautical miles (22km; 14mi) limit and North Vietnamese resolve. An F8 Crusader from the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga flew overhead for ninety minutes and failed to locate any North Vietnamese ships attacking the "Maddox" and "Turner" on august 4. Then read these 27 Vietnam War facts that will change the way you think about American history. But the government itself wouldnt confirm Whites suspicions for decades. After Kennedy's assassination, Johnson ordered in more U.S. forces to support the Saigon government, beginning a protracted United States presence in Southeast Asia. William Bundy's paper dated September 8, 1964, suggested more DESOTO patrols as well. Four years later, Secretary McNamara admitted to Congress that the U.S. ships had in fact been cooperating in the South Vietnamese attacks against North Vietnam. President Johnson signed this into law three days later, privately remarking that the resolution was like Grandmas nightshirt. U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command, Three North Vietnamese torpedo boats approaching the USS, The North Vietnamese torpedo boats under fire, as photographed on board the USS, U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command/Wikimedia Commons. [5] A U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Ticonderoga, was also stationed nearby. . Commander James Bond Stockdale exiting his aircraft. [5], Shortly before midnight, on August 4, Johnson interrupted national television to make an announcement in which he described an attack by North Vietnamese vessels on two U.S. Navy warships, Maddox and Turner Joy, and requested authority to undertake a military response. Hannah McKennett is a Dublin-based freelance writer that is dedicated to traveling the world while writing about it. With regard to why this happened, Hanyok writes: As much as anything else, it was an awareness that Johnson would brook no uncertainty that could undermine his position. Increase. Inside The Most Disturbing Dungeons And Torture Chambers That Serial Killers Used To Torment Their Victims, Joe Bonanno Spent 35 Years As The Boss Of One Of New York's Biggest Crime Families Then Wrote A Tell-All Book About It, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Yoichi Okamoto/U.S. But once-classified documents and tapes released in the past several years, combined with previously uncovered facts, make clear that high government officials, including the then US President Lyndon Johnson, distorted facts, lied and deceived the American public about the events that led to full US involvement in the Vietnam War. The letter was mine. And then, two days later, on August 4, the Johnson administration claimed that it had been attacked again. By mid-1965, his approval rating was 70 percent (though it fell precipitously once the war dragged on longer than expected). In fact, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, as it became known, turned out to be a fictitious creation courtesy of the government to escalate war in Vietnam leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of U.S. troops and millions of Vietnamese, fomenting the largest anti-war movement in American history, and tarnishing the reputation of a nation once More answers below Did the Gulf of Tonkin incident actually occur or was it faked to justify going to war with Vietnam? [5] Maddox retreated, but the next day, August 2, Maddox, which had a top speed of 28 knots, resumed her routine patrol, and three North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boats with a top speed of 50 knots began to follow Maddox. Lawrence, A. T. (2009). Cecil Stoughton/U.S. "CNN Cold War Interviews: Robert McNamara", "Vietnam War Intelligence 'Deliberately Skewed,' Secret Study Says", "Transcript of Broadcast With Walter Cronkite Inaugurating a CBS Television Program", "National Security Action Memorandum 263 - Intro", "Vi som sttter Amerika Norges rolle i Vietnamkrigen", "The Pentagon Papers, Gravel Edition, Volume 3, Chapter 2, "Military Pressures Against North Vietnam, February 1964 January 1965," second section", "National Security Archive | 30+ Years of Freedom of Information Action", "Deceit and dishonesty: Ben Bradlee's 1987 James Cameron memorial lecture", "Robert McNamara deceived LBJ on Gulf of Tonkin, documents show", "United States Congress resolution, Pub.L. False flags are real and have been used on many occasions to advance nations into war, change regimes or radically sway public opinion. In the foreword, he notes "Among the many books written on the Vietnamese war, half a dozen note a 1967 letter to the editor of a Connecticut newspaper which was instrumental in pressuring the Johnson administration to tell the truth about how the war started. [21], Although the boats were crewed by South Vietnamese naval personnel, approval for each mission conducted under the plan came directly from Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp Jr., CINCPAC in Honolulu, who received his orders from the White House. [28], Sharp also noted that orders given to Maddox to stay 8 nautical miles (15km; 9.2mi) off the North Vietnamese coast put the ship in international waters, as North Vietnam claimed only a 5 nautical miles (9.3km; 5.8mi) limit as its territory (or off of its off-shore islands). According to National Security Agency documents declassified in 2005 The overwhelming body of reports told the story that no attack had happened. The Gulf of Tonkin incident: the false flag operation that started the Vietnam war. The Gulf of Tonkin by Erich Martel, The World Today, Vol. The most commonly known false flag operations consist of a government agency staging a terror attack, whereby an uninvolved entity gets blamed for the carnage. Later analysis showed those communications to have concerned the recovery of torpedo boats damaged in the August 2 attack and North Vietnamese observations of (but not participation in) the August 4 U.S. White was featured in the August 2014 issue of Connecticut Magazine. As a result, planes from the aircraft carriers Ticonderoga and Constellation were sent to hit North Vietnamese torpedo boat bases and fuel facilities during Operation Pierce Arrow. Stockdale was always adamant that no attack ever occurred on August 4. But the biggest lie was that on August 4 1964, the two destroyers came again under attack, that they were ambushed, with enemy N. Vietnam boats firing 22 torpedoes at them. [12]:76, The Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred during the first year of the Johnson administration. [citation needed], In 1962, the U.S. Navy began an electronic warfare support measures (intelligence gathering) program, conducted by destroyer patrols in the western Pacific, with the cover name DESOTO. [22] After the coastal attacks began, Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, lodged a complaint with the International Control Commission (ICC), which had been established in 1954 to oversee the terms of the Geneva Accords, but the U.S. denied any involvement. In 1962 McNamara presented President Kennedy withOperation Northwoods, a series of False Flag proposals designed to initiate violence against Americans and deceive the American people into a war with Cuba. But false flags are a very real and very present feature of geopolitics and denying that is simply denying reality. Some of the most horrible Vietnam War facts . Vietnam War: "The Tonkin incident", where American destroyer Maddox was supposedly attacked twice by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats in 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin never happened. Gulf of Tonkin: False Flag confirmed USS Liberty: False Flag confirmed Swine Flu : False Flag confirmed OK city: False Flag confirmed WTC 1st bombing: False Flag confirmed WTC 2nd bombing (thermite beam cutters): False Flag confirmed COVID: False Flag confirmed TRUTH YOU CANNOT HIDE. Viet Minh political cadres, who were legally campaigning for the promised elections between 1955 and 1957, were suppressed by the government. L. Paul Epley/National ArchivesTwo soldiers next to a fallen man during the Vietnam War. At the end of July 1964, the USS Maddox was sent to patrol the waters off the North Vietnamese coastline in the Gulf of Tonkin. And while the Maddox remained in international waters, three North Vietnamese patrol boats began tracking the destroyer in early August. National Archives and Records AdministrationPresident Johnson signs the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The Gulf of Tonkin incident is in many ways the epitome of government crime. For example, some of the signals intercepted during those August evenings were falsified, while others were altered to show different time receipts. The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying U.S. conventional forces to South Vietnam and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam. [52] As a result of his testimony, on August 7, Congress passed a joint resolution (H.J. The Gulf of Tonkin incident (Vietnamese: S kin Vnh Bc B) was an international confrontation that led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War.It involved both a proven confrontation on August 2, 1964, carried out by North Vietnamese forces in response to covert operations in the coastal region of the gulf, and a second, claimed confrontation on August 4 . Johnson's statements were short to "minimize the U.S. role in the conflict; a clear inconsistency existed between Johnson's actions and his public discourse. How The Gulf Of Tonkin Incident Sparked The Vietnam War. National Archives and Records AdministrationPresident Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara in a cabinet room meeting. Domestically speaking, a large-scale false flag such as . Although August 4 was a stormy day, Captain Herrick ordered the two destroyers further out to sea in order to give them more space in the case of an attack. The most sensational part of the history (which was excerpted and disclosed by the NSA two years ago) is the recounting of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident, in which a second reported North Vietnamese attack on U.S. forces, following another attack two days before, triggered a major escalation of the war. By the end of July, they were tracking the USS Maddox, which was stationed in international waters just a few miles outside of Hn M Island in the Gulf of Tonkin. Shortly after the attack was reported, President Johnson made his decision to retaliate. contribution. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed unanimously in the Senate. "[53], Johnson commented privately: "For all I know, our navy was shooting at whales out there."[54]. Johnson won the 1964 election by a landslide, winning a greater share of the popular vote than any presidential candidate had since 1820. After decades of public skepticism and government secrecy, the truth finally came out: In the early 2000s, nearly 200 documents were declassified and released by the National Security Agency (NSA). According to Edwin Mose, the Hanoi government (which, unlike the U.S. government, had to give permission at the highest levels for the conduct of such missions) probably assumed that they were all a coordinated effort to escalate military actions against North Vietnam. The rest is history: nearly 10 years of American involvement in the Vietnam War, an estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians killed, 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers killed, up to 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers killed, and more than 58,000 American soldiers killed. "[55] White continued his whistleblowing activities in the 1968 documentary In the Year of the Pig. America's history of using false flags to start wars. And the sonars were probably just catching the tops of big waves. Lyndon Johnson on August 5, 1964, assertedly in reaction to two allegedly unprovoked attacks by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on the destroyers Maddox and C. Turner Joy of the U.S. The Gulf of Tonkin incident, like others in our nation's history, has become the center of considerable controversy and debate. [59], In October 2012, retired Rear Admiral Lloyd "Joe" Vasey was interviewed by David Day on Asia Review and gave a detailed account of the August 4 incident. "[33][5], "And ultimately it was concluded that almost certainly the [August 4] attack had occurred. He immediately appeared in front of the United States with a televised speech. The outcome of the incident was the passage by U.S. Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression". The first incident took place on August 2, 1964, when the destroyerUSSMaddox, engaged three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats seen approaching the Maddox. They stepped up sabotage and hit-and-run attacks on the coast of North Vietnam." Use tab to navigate through the menu items. The Geneva Conference in 1954 was intended to settle outstanding issues following the end of hostilities between France and the Viet Minh at the end of the First Indochina War. In actuality the destroyers were on an espionage mission in waters claimed by North Vietnam and were the ones who opened fire on the North Vietnamese boats and sunk all three of them after a brief firefight. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, also called Tonkin Gulf Resolution, resolution put before the U.S. Congress by Pres. No further details were forthcoming. Instead, "only information that supported the claim that the communists had attacked the two destroyers was given to Johnson administration officials."[65]. [5][6][7], On August 2, 1964, the destroyer USSMaddox, while performing a signals intelligence patrol as part of DESOTO operations, was approached by three Vietnam People's Navy torpedo boats of the 135th Torpedo Squadron. [64], Reviewing the NSA's archives, Hanyok concluded that the August 4 incident began at Phu Bai Combat Base, where intelligence analysts mistakenly believed the destroyers would soon be attacked. On July 25, 2001, in a two-and-a-half-hour broadcast of his Infowars TV program on a local public-access channel, Alex Jones laid out what he saw as the . [58], In the fall of 1999, retired Senior CIA Engineering Executive S. Eugene Poteat wrote that he was asked in early August 1964 to determine if the radar operator's report showed a real torpedo boat attack or an imagined one. Indeed, this concept is so well-accepted that rules of engagement for naval, air and land warfare all prohibit false flag attacks. The Gulf of Tonkin incident is considered a false flag operation because the military was used by the CIA to heighten the involvement of the US in Vietnam. Liberty Waco Oklahoma City 9/11 London 7/7 Sandy Hook Globalism U.N. [47] Various government officials and men aboard Maddox have suggested similar theories. It was no surprise that when two Persian Gulf oil tankers were attacked last Thursday, "Gulf of Tonkin" immediately spiked on Google, while right-wing sites played up claims of a false flag attack. Stockdale recounts the incident at 0:37 seconds in the video below. [12]:11 By 1961, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem faced significant discontent among some quarters of the southern population, including some Buddhists who were opposed to the rule of Diem's Catholic supporters. actions. [23], Daniel Ellsberg, who was on duty in the Pentagon the night of August 4, receiving messages from USSMaddox, reported that she was on a DESOTO mission near Northern Vietnamese territorial waters. All 18 of the witnesses testified at a hearing in Olongapo, Philippines, and their testimony is a matter of public record. Lots of the 'nuts' sure . President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky in Honolulu. Did you know that the Gulf of Tonkin Bay incident that led the US to wage all out war on Vietnam was based on a false flag, or in other words, a lie? This August 4 incident never happened. Many historians now agree that the Gulf of Tonkin incident, in which many believed North Vietnamese ships had attacked American naval forces, may not have occurred in the way it was described at the time. But every time he hightailed it out of one area, another blip on the sonar would appear. It was tantamount to a declaration of war, but it was based on a lie. It had been ordered to locate and identify all coastal radar transmitters, note all navigation aids along the DVRs [Democratic Republic of Vietnams] coastline, and monitor the Vietnamese junk fleet for a possible connection to DRV/Viet Cong maritime supply and infiltration routes.. This U.S. retaliation marked the nations first overt military action against the North Vietnamese. A map of the Gulf of Tonkin, where the supposed attacks took place on Aug. 4, 1964. Proudly powered by WordPress. Crucible Vietnam: Memoir of an Infantry Lieutenant. Fri, 07/16/2010 - 10:33 . The Gulf of Tonkin incident is the most notorious false flag in American history. In 1995, McNamara met with former Vietnam People's Army General V Nguyn Gip to ask what happened on August 4, 1964 in the second Gulf of Tonkin Incident. The Gulf of Tonkin incident, like others in our nation's history, has become the center of considerable controversy and debate. The torpedo boats sped up, and the warning shots were fired. Seventh Fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2 and August 4, respectively. fact that several Senators knew that the White House and the Pentagon had deceived the American people over the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. On August 2, 1964 the USS Maddox was on DEOSTO Patrol in international waters off North Vietnam. Captain John Herrick intercepted communications from these North Vietnamese forces that suggested they were preparing for an attack, so he retreated from the area. [50], John McNaughton suggested in September 1964 that the U.S. prepare to take actions to provoke a North Vietnamese military reaction, including plans to use DESOTO patrols North. After learning about the Gulf of Tonkin incident, check out these photos from the anti-Vietnam War movement. For some two hours (from about 21:40 to about 23:35, local time) the ships fired on radar targets and maneuvered vigorously amid electronic and visual reports of enemies. These runs into North Vietnamese territorial waters coincided with South Vietnamese coastal raids and were interpreted as coordinated operations by the North, which officially acknowledged the engagements of August 2, 1964. The decisions made by President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top advisors, and the Congressional debate that ensued, resulted in a resolution . Charleston church shooting. They showed that there was no attack on August 4. The false flag Gulf of Tonkin Incident Vietnam 75,381 views Dec 22, 2008 613 Dislike Share kikila007 1.71K subscribers President Johnson used an alleged attack by North Vietnamese gun boats. [47], North Vietnam's General Gip suggested that the DESOTO patrol had been sent into the gulf to provoke North Vietnam into giving the U.S. an excuse for escalation of the war. He did not like to deal with uncertainties. More Proof Gulf of Tonkin Was False Flag. Recently released tapes and documents reveal the truth and lies of the Gulf of Tonkin incident and its resolution. National Archives and Records AdministrationPresident Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky in Honolulu. This initial action was never reported by the Johnson administration, which insisted that the Vietnamese boats fired first. Due to the age and poor quality of some of the PDF images, a screen reader may not be able to process the images into word documents. This article will demonstrate three principal factual conclusions: (1) that Mr. Gamble is absolutely wrong, as a matter of historical fact, to claim that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a "false flag" operation; (2) that belief in "9/11 was an inside job" conspiracy theories is not growing, but in fact shrinking; and (3) the conclusion . Herrick proposed a "complete evaluation before any further action taken. Originally American claims blamed North Vietnam for both attacks. Liberty Waco Oklahoma City 9/11 London 7/7 Sandy Hook But he did not immediately call Johnson to tell him that the whole premise of his decision at lunch to approve McNamara's recommendation for retaliatory air strikes against North Vietnam was highly questionable. Fifty years ago, a controversial confrontation in the Gulf of Tonkin between the United States and North Vietnam forces set the stage for what eventually became US involvement in the Vietnam War. Within 24 hours, though, the Maddox resumed its normal patrolling routine. . It's a good example of a 'false flag', so common in politics since the beginning. At the same time it gathered this intelligence, the South Vietnamese navy conducted strikes on multiple North Vietnamese islands. The official story was that North Vietnamese torpedo boats launched an unprovoked attack against the US destroyer "Maddox", which was on routine patrol in the Tonkin Gulf on August 2and that North Vietnamese PT boats followed up with a deliberate attack two days later on August 4, firing 22 torpedoes on the "Maddox" and another destroyer, the "Turner Joy". [34], In the face of growing uncertainties over the course of the day regarding whether the attack had occurred, the Johnson administration ended up basing its conclusion that it had mostly on communications intercepts erroneously assessed to be North Vietnamese preparations to carry out an attack and a North Vietnamese after action report. Historians have concluded that the attack never happened and Johnson's ploy is now seen as the quintessential false flag operation. Indeed, false flags are themselves capable of taking on a wide variety of forms - domestic or foreign, small or large, economic or political, and many other designations that can often blur into one another. [43] Immediately after the resolution was read and presented to Congress, Morse began to fight it. Brought to you by the CDC. Sweden and Denmark said that they had detected underwater blasts in the area. The U.S. vessels were now more than 100 miles away from the North Vietnamese coastline when their trackers started to light up. [14]:67 A communist-led uprising began against Diem's government in April 1957. RES 1145), titled the Southeast Asia Resolution, which granted Johnson the authority to conduct military operations in Southeast Asia without the benefit of a declaration of war. The Council on Foreign Relations Read Watch Free Gun Permit 1984 Brave New World STORE Links About Contact Ft. Sumter . Gulf of Tonkin confirmed as False Flag Reprehensor Wed, 01/09/2008 - 11:51am Daniel Ellsberg Gulf of Tonkin Strait of Hormuz (For anyone still harboring doubts about the status of the Gulf of Tonkin incident as an example of a False Flag event, a report made public by the NSA clears it up. [5] In the ensuing engagement, one U.S. aircraft (which had been launched from aircraft carrier USSTiconderoga) was damaged, three North Vietnamese torpedo boats were damaged, and four North Vietnamese sailors were killed, with six more wounded. Answer (1 of 6): No, that's not true. The USS Maddox evaded the torpedo attack, suffering only slight damage, and sailed off to safer waters. Catastrophic Covid Vax Mandates Shutting Down Hospitals, Medical Centers and Healthcare Systems Like This?! They were recruited for the job by the Norwegian intelligence officer Alf Martens Meyer. He thus characterized the attack as "unprovoked" since the ship had been in international waters. [43] These logs were not available before Johnson's resolution was presented to Congress. This lie jumpstarted a war that would claim 58,220 American and more than 3 million Vietnamese lives.
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