Case Study Of Avalon Project: The Tonkin Gulf Incident

Upon the French’s exit, the American involvement and commitment escalated with the use of the political establishments in South Vietnam to assist in the curbing the spread of Communism. This presented America an opportunity for them to significantly integrate themselves in the South Vietnamese government to further delay the reunification election from taking place in 1954. The attacks on the US naval vessels during the Gulf of Tonkin incident provided the U.S, under the Johnson administration, another justification for the escalated involvement of the conflict in Vietnam. In which, the U.S responded with the Gulf of Tonkin resolution to launch a full-scale military effort towards the North until their withdrawal from Vietnam in 1969. The desolate gradual departure of America in Vietnam was summarised by Senator James Buckley as “that damning silence of those who cannot find even a single word of compassion for those under Communist tyranny”. It can be inferred from this context that as the situations in Vietnam continue to evolve, the American’s participation also varied to align with these conditions.

“In August of 1964, in response to the American and GVN espionage along its coast, the DRV launched a local and controlled attack against C. Turner Joy and the U.S.S. Maddox , two American ships on call in the Gulf of Tonkin” (Brigham 2). This resulted in the United States government giving Lyndon Johnson the ability to make war under the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. President Johnson then gave orders to perform air raids on Northern Vietnam pushing the United States further into the war. Compared to 1962 when only 9,000 soldiers supported the South Vietnamese, by June 1965 82,000 soldiers occupied the country. The number only continued to rise exponentially, and by 1966 370,000 soldiers had been sent in to prop their South Vietnam allies. President Richard Nixon withdrew American soldiers from Vietnam and as part of the “vietnamization” of the war. Over and 60,000 American soldiers had been lost in a war to preserve the status quo, not to win.

On August 7th 1964 the United States Congress passed into law the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which, for all intents and purposes, officially brought the United States into the Vietnam War. Following this resolution, a draft was instated to increase the number of men that could be sent to war. Shortly after men started to be signed into conscription for the United States Military, a public outcry started over the use of a draft to increase military size. The draft was found to be unfair to American Citizens because certain groups of men were severely disadvantaged, the draft was illegal in many ways, and veteran’s future lives were harmed, among other reasons.

47. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave the president all necessary measures to repel any armed attacks against the forces of the US and to prevent further aggressions

The Gulf of Tonkin incident was a series of reported confrontations between the USS Maddox on August 2nd and August 4th, 1964. The second of the two confrontations, on August 4th, was later proven to have never happened, and the legitimacy of the first confrontation on August 2nd is in question. The USS Maddox reported that on August 2nd, while patrolling in international waters, it was attacked by three North Vietnamese Torpedo Boats. President Johnson went on live television on August 4th saying that the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy were attacked again by Vietnamese boats. He used these attacks as reason to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that granted him the use of conventional military force in Southeast Asia without a formal

His arising failure began to reveal itself to many people whose then “attitudes[were] strongly influenced by the news media, particularly television”(Doc I). Angry citizens started rallies and protests as shown in (Doc E), Peace demonstrators display a large sign referring to LBJ as a war criminal during huge anti-Vietnam war protest at the Pentagon. In the point of view of these protesters, they are sick of the length, and death the war has caused, then blaming the President for it. Reasons for these types of protests included opposition to the draft; moral, and legal arguments against U.S. intervention; and reaction to the media portrayal of the devastation occurring. Also, many people lacked a clear idea of why we were even fighting in the war, this confusion turned into anger. However, not everyone was in opposition to Johnson's decisions, “a Gallup poll held in 1968 showed that 46% of Americans approved of Johnson’s handling of the war while 50% believed that it was essential to combat the expansion of communism in Southeast Asia”(Trueman). Lastly, with a detached country, we are displaying to our enemy weakness without even realizing. When North Vietnam sees this division, they'll be “led to believe that we are sorely divided”(Doc H). Unification is what a country need to seek in order to succeed. If a President is not supported by

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a resolution that stated that the president could take any and all action necessary in Vietnam. This was spurred by a supposed attack on a United States gun boat in the Gulf of Tonkin. A point of comparison to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution could be the declaration of war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. On December 7th, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) launched a large bombing mission against the ships and the soldiers at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After this event, the original idea to try and keep the United States out of World War II was abandoned and the United States began to churn out military equipment and supplies to combat the Axis powers. In both cases, the seemingly correct thing to do was considered to be obvious.

A North Vietnamese civilian said, “The Americans thought that the more bombs they dropped, the quicker we would fall to our knees and surrender. But the bombs heightened rather than dampened our spirit.” This shows that congress was not correct in approving the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution because the results were war, bombing, and deaths.

The Kennedy Doctrine, which was to “Respond flexibly to communist expansion, especially guerrilla warfare” (Roskin & Berry, 2010, p. 58), was executed in this history-making event to the letter. Kennedy could have, and had the power to cease the unfolding events with an all out air strike on the Soviet Union. Some say it is due to bureaucratic politics and the accessibility of information that was provided to the National Security Council by the CIA and air force that this did not occur. In responding flexibly to what The Soviet Union and Cuba were planning, America assessed the volatile situation, forethought possible outcomes and negated all their options albeit under a tight time constraint. America’s forces were mobilized and ready to strike, had word been given nuclear war was on the cards. Kennedy wanted to give The Soviet Union an out and put a halt to a possible war, rethink the situation and allow an alternative to occur. Due to this diplomacy, The Soviet Union entered into negotiations “the Kremlin offered a deal: no Soviet missiles in Cuba if Washington promised not to invade” (Roskin & Berry, 2010, p. 87). By using the flexible response tactic, Kennedy was

Lyndon Johnson and the Tonkin Gulf Resolution The official rhetoric of Lyndon Johnson’s administration portrayed the Gulf of Tonkin incident as an unprovoked and malicious attack on U.S. ships by the armed forces of North Vietnam, as a result of which the President needed the power to deal militarily with the North Vietnamese. The Gulf of Tonkin incident explicitly encompasses military actions on August 2, and alleged actions on August 4, 1964, between North Vietnamese torpedo patrol boats and United States destroyers and aircraft off the coast of North Vietnam. President Johnson and many top administration officials declared that the United States was innocent of any aggressive offensive maneuvers against the North

A “Troop Strength and Casualties” graphic depicts exponential increase in the number of troops and ‘battle dead’ after the passing of the resolution. This effectively illustrates the magnitude of impact that the resolution had. Nothing but a full-scale war would cause such dramatic increases in military personnel and death. In a New York Times article by E.W. Kenworthy, it is stated that “the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution...gave the President authority equivalent to that conveyed by a declaration of war.” In this, it is apparent that multiple sources believed the resolution to be of equal weight to a formal declaration from

Many people believe that the Gulf of Tonkin Incident is responsible for increased U.S. escalation in Vietnam. President Johnson and his administration claimed that the incident involved unprovoked attacks on U.S. destroyers (Herring, 165). People had questioned what had actually occurred even back then. I believe the Johnson administration was looking for a reason to escalate American involvement and that the Gulf of Tonkin Incident provided the perfect opportunity. American policy in South Vietnam was not as effective as many had thought.

Congress’ approval of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was incorrect. The United States was going by constitutional obligation to meet Communist aggression against any of the parties within the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty. President Johnson, whom requested the resolution, felt that it was a demonstration of Americas’ unity. Also, when asked about what happened in the Tonkin Gulf, former Defense Secretary replied, “Absolutely nothing”. In the future Congress should look back on this and understand that approving something just for popular opinion is not the way to go about governing.

Was the Gulf of Tonkin incident an accident or were the 2 attacks on the USS Maddox within reason where the ship was not where it was supposed to be? Thus the correct historical analogy may not be Nixon's secret air campaign and incursions into Cambodia, but the Tonkin Gulf incident-the alleged pair of attacks by North Vietnamese naval forces against American destroyers that President London B. Johnson used to win public support and congressional approval for escalating the confrontation with North Vietnam. The government has ways to make information and secret operations disappear as if it never happened by making them nonexistent on paper. Is a secret operation or reconnaissance mission what the ship was doing? What was OPLAN-34A? Why did

The United States issued the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964. It said that Congress empowered the President, as Command in Chief, "to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the U.S. and to prevent further aggression." Most importantly, the memorandum gave the President the permission to retaliate North Vietnam's threats to international peace, as the attacks were reason enough for further American involvement in Vietnam, as well as an escalation of military forces.