The resolution gave Johnson approval "to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom. [25] When a MACV-SOG commando raid was being carried out against Hon Nieu, the ship was 120 miles (190km) away from the attacked area. [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). Hannah McKennett is a Dublin-based freelance writer that is dedicated to traveling the world while writing about it. Despite the Navy's claim that two attacking torpedo boats had been sunk, there was no wreckage, bodies of dead North Vietnamese sailors, or other physical evidence present at the scene of the alleged engagement. It was only invented to start a war the New World Order already wanted (pretext for war). "[43] Morse's efforts were not immediately met with support, largely because he revealed no sources and was working with very limited information. Crucible Vietnam: Memoir of an Infantry Lieutenant. China is destroying our world, and no one seems to mind. These 4 wars started after 'false flag' attacks - We Are The Mighty He revealed that 90 percent of the relevant intercepts, including those from the North Vietnamese, had been kept out the NSA's final . It's the perfect time for a false flag attack, where one country carries out a covert attack, disguising it to look like it was done by someone else. What the Maddox operators were probably hearing was the ships propellers reflecting off its rudder during sharp turns. 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 . According to intelligence officials, the view of government historians that Hanyok's report should become public was rebuffed by policy makers concerned that comparisons might be made to intelligence used to justify the Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom) which commenced in 2003. The conversation between President Lyndon B. Johnson andSecretary of State Robert McNamara in the video below starts at 1:14 minutes. Kennedy rejected the plan. As the battle continued, Captain Herrick too began to have doubts about these attacks. The floodgates had opened. Cecil Stoughton/U.S. "[53], Johnson commented privately: "For all I know, our navy was shooting at whales out there."[54]. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. . After the fraudulent second attack, LBJ capitalized on initial reports and ordered the bombing of four torpedo boat bases, and an oil-storage facility in Vinh. [35] At 18:00 Washington time (05:00 in the Gulf of Tonkin), Herrick cabled yet again, this time stating, "the first boat to close the Maddox probably launched a torpedo at the Maddox which was heard but not seen. The U.S. government was still seeking evidence on the night of August 4 when Johnson gave his address to the American public on the incident; messages recorded that day indicate that neither Johnson nor McNamara was certain of an attack. The original account from the Pentagon Papers has been revised in light of a 2005 internal NSA historical study,[5] which stated on page 17: At 1500G, Captain Herrick (commander of Maddox) ordered Ogier's gun crews to open fire if the boats approached within ten thousand yards. He asserts "I maintain that President Johnson, Secretary McNamara and the Joint Chiefs of Staff gave false information to Congress in their report about US destroyers being attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. [8] Maddox was "unscathed except for a single bullet hole from a Vietnamese machine gun round". 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. False flags are real - US has a long history of lying to start wars More posts from r/skeptic. The first incident took place on August 2, 1964, when the destroyerUSSMaddox, engaged three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats seen approaching the Maddox. How The Gulf Of Tonkin Incident Sparked The Vietnam War. False Flags are Real - US Has a Long History of Lying to Start Wars [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. No actual visual sightings by Maddox. Suggest complete evaluation before any further action taken.. 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 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. From this point on, the American policy and programs would dominate the course of the Indochina.. [62], In October 2005, The New York Times reported that Robert J. Hanyok, a historian for the NSA, concluded that the NSA distorted intelligence reports passed to policy makers regarding the August 4 incident. [5] In this context, on July 31, Maddox began patrols of the North Vietnamese coast to collect intelligence, coming within a few miles of Hn M island. On the night of Aug. 4, the Pentagon proclaimed that a second attack by North Vietnamese PT boats had occurred earlier that day in the Tonkin Gulf a report cited by President Johnson as he went on national TV that evening to announce a momentous escalation in the war: air strikes against North Vietnam. 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. On August 2, 1964 the USS Maddox was on DEOSTO Patrol in international waters off North Vietnam. The National Security Agency released a paper entitledSkunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish: The Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 2-4 August 1964. False Flag Wars: The Gulf of Tonkin - YouTube There were no U.S. A skirmish and confused reports of a second engagement two days later led President Lyndon B. Johnson to order airstrikes against North . L. Paul Epley/National ArchivesTwo soldiers next to a fallen man during the Vietnam War. Florida, Texas, New Mexico and California were Spanish possessions that revolted for independence. About 40,000 communist soldiers infiltrated the south from 1961 to 1963. One US aircraft was damaged, one 14.5mm round hit the destroyer. 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. It's a good example of a 'false flag', so common in politics since the beginning. 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. 88408, 78 Stat. Some people suspected the deception all along. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and Escalation of the Vietnam War However, President Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara treated these original, purposefully distorted reports as crucial evidence during their arguments for retaliation, ignoring the majority of reports that concluded that no attack had occurred. Even the US Navy had came out later and declared that it's clear that North Vietnamese naval forces did not attack Maddox and Turner Joy that night, on August 4, 1964.. The Maddox reported seeing multiple unidentified vessels on their sonars coming at them from different directions. His actions would lead to the deaths of 58,220 Americans and an untold number of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians. 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. After a series of unsuccessful missions, OPLAN 34A shifted its focus from the land to the sea, attacking the Norths coastal infrastructure and defense from the water. In 1964, South Vietnam began conducting a series of attacks and missions along the North Vietnamese coasts, backed by the United States. In 1963, three young Norwegian skippers traveled on a mission in South Vietnam. The US elite is very partial to Modern False Flags (Spanish Maine, Gulf of Tonkin, Pearl Harbour, Oklahoma Bombings etc), but on home soil they often resort to Hoaxes, the purpose of which is to justify retaliation against an idea (eg Islam, gun ownership, drugs) but in which nobody actually gets killed (Sandy Hook, Boston Bombings etc). During the summer of 1964, President Johnson and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were eager to widen the war in Vietnam. Charleston church shooting. Lawrence, A. T. (2009). The Gulf of Tonkin incident, like others in our nation's history, has become the center of considerable controversy and debate. Domestically speaking, a large-scale false flag such as . 53 Admitted False Flag Attacks. "Not Conspiracy Theory - Global Research In so doing then create a template on how to study an event and determine if it is a false flag. List of Mass Shootings in the United States in 2021, CLICK FOR RECENT POSTS, SEARCH & ARCHIVES , Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish: The Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 2-4 August 1964, PRESUMED DEAD (BODY REMAINS NOT RECOVERED). The Truth About Tonkin | Naval History Magazine - February 2008 Volume Reaction To Events in the Gulf of Tonkin, August 110, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident&oldid=1138963597, Naval battles of the Vietnam War involving the United States, Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1964, Articles with dead external links from December 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from June 2016, Articles containing Vietnamese-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 February 2023, at 17:06. History of American false flag operations - 9-11 Review 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 . The USS Maddox evaded the torpedo attack, suffering only slight damage, and sailed off to safer waters. [10] Gip confirmed that the attack had been imaginary. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Passes House and Senate "Aggression by terror against the peaceful villagers of South Vietnam has now been joined by open aggression on the high seas against the. How The Gulf Of Tonkin Incident Sparked The Vietnam War - All That's Is it true that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was faked? - Quora 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. After he was captured, this knowledge became a heavy burden. Fifty years since the Gulf of Tonkin incident which triggered the [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. William Bundy's paper dated September 8, 1964, suggested more DESOTO patrols as well. While U.S. President John F. Kennedy had originally supported the policy of sending military advisers to Diem, he had begun to alter his thinking by September 1963,[17] because of what he perceived to be the ineptitude of the Saigon government and its inability and unwillingness to make needed reforms (which led to a U.S.-supported coup which resulted in the death of Diem). National Archives and Records AdministrationPresident Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara in a cabinet room meeting. [45] Time reported: "Through the darkness, from the West and south intruders boldly sped at least six of them they opened fire on the destroyers with automatic weapons, this time from as close as 2,000 yards. Wayne Morse. The US's National Security Agency then fabricated a second false flag attack two days later and the US subsequently passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through Congress which led to the deployment of ground troops in what would become the calamitous debacle that was the Vietnam War. [30], On August 4, another DESOTO patrol off the North Vietnamese coast was launched by Maddox and Turner Joy, in order to "show the flag" after the first incident. According to Admiral Vasey, who was aboard USSOklahoma City, a Galveston-class guided missile cruiser, in the Gulf of Tonkin and serving as chief of staff to Commander Seventh Fleet, Turner Joy intercepted an NVA radio transmission ordering a torpedo boat attack on Turner Joy and Maddox. America's history of using false flags to start wars. [30][31] The North Vietnamese stance is that they always considered a 12 nautical mile limit, consistent with the positions regarding the law of the sea of both the Soviet Union and China, their main allies. Then read these 27 Vietnam War facts that will change the way you think about American history. The Manchurian Incident was a classic false flag attack designed by Japanese military personnel to provide a pretext for the invasion in 1931 of Manchuria, in Northeastern China. 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. While intelligence collected by DESOTO missions could be used by OPLAN-34A planners and commanders, they were separate programs not known to coordinate mission planning except to warn DESOTO patrols to stay clear of 34A operational areas. "9/11 Truth" movement: How Alex Jones and Michael Ruppert founded it. "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. Please Note: These historical documents are PDF images of formerly classified carbon paper and reports that have been declassified. He claimed that the North Vietnamese had tracked Maddox along the coast by radar and were thus aware that the destroyer had not actually attacked North Vietnam and that Hanoi (or the local commander) had ordered its craft to engage Maddox anyway. Its stated purpose was to . What was happening at the time were aggressive South Vietnamese raids against the North in the same general area. The next day, the USS Maddox once again resumed its normal patrol, this time alongside another U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Turner Joy. Months before an alleged attack was being blamed on Iran, a US Army Colonel predicted this very scenario playing out to start a war. 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. Even at the time, there was widespread skepticism about the Gulf of Tonkin incident, in which the North Vietnamese were said to have attacked American destroyers on Aug. 4, 1964, two days after an . Declassified documents reve. Indeed, this concept is so well-accepted that rules of engagement for naval, air and land warfare all prohibit false flag attacks. The sinking of the USS Maine in 1898 and the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 - each of which was a critical part of a casus belli - have been claimed as possible false flag attacks, though the evidence supporting these allegations is weak. According to his New York Times obit, the elder Morrison "commanded American naval forces in the gulf [of Tonkin] when the destroyer Maddox engaged three North Vietnamese torpedo boats on Aug. 2, 1964. Hanyok attributed this to the deference that the NSA would have likely given to the analysts who were closer to the event. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a statement which allowed President Johnson to _______U.S. Vietnam War Facts That Will Change How You See American History On the 18th of September, a Japanese officer detonated a small explosive next to a railway line owned by a Japanese company. There were 18 witnesses, both enlisted and officers, who reported various aspects of the attack; smoke from the stricken torpedo boat, torpedo wakes (reported by four individuals on each destroyer), sightings of the torpedo boats moving through the water and searchlights. The decisions made by President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top advisors, and the Congressional debate that ensued, resulted in a resolution . actions. According to National Security Archive research fellow John Prados, "the American people have long . At the same time it gathered this intelligence, the South Vietnamese navy conducted strikes on multiple North Vietnamese islands. In contrast to the clear conditions two days earlier, thunderstorms and rain squalls reduced visibility and increased wave heights to six feet. "[34] In response to requests for confirmation, at around 16:00 Washington time, Herrick cabled, "Details of action present a confusing picture although certain that the original ambush was bona fide. He later said he was concerned that his captors would eventually force him to reveal what he knew about the second incident. On the evening of August 4, the ships opened fire on radar returns that had been preceded by communications intercepts which US forces claimed meant an attack was imminent. The Washington Standard / July 28, 2015. 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. Suggest complete evaluation before any further action taken." 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".