Vietnam War Document de-classification: NSA Report Confirms Gulf of Tonkin as a Hoax. (1 Viewer)

blackadder

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As reported by AFP.

...probably the "most historically significant feature" of the declassified report was the retelling of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident.
That was a reported North Vietnamese attack on American destroyers that helped lead to president Lyndon Johnson's sharp escalation of American forces in Vietnam.

The author of the report "demonstrates that not only is it not true, as (then US) secretary of defense Robert McNamara told Congress, that the evidence of an attack was 'unimpeachable,' but that to the contrary, a review of the classified signals intelligence proves that 'no attack happened that night,'" FAS said in a statement.

"What this study demonstrated is that the available intelligence shows that there was no attack. It's a dramatic reversal of the historical record," Aftergood said.

"There were previous indications of this but this is the first time we have seen the complete study," he said.

Also, interestingly, the report reveals that the North Vietnamese penetrated US communications systems and on occasion were able to direct "friendly fire" onto U.S. units.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hzFIeNFkO1z6p7PHHwx5k_ig11-Q

Wonder if this will make it into the history books?

Only 40 years or so until we get the equivalent documents on the selling of the Iraq war.
 
Only 40 years or so until we get the equivalent documents on the selling of the Iraq war.

What's to sell? The "evidence" was paper thin to begin with. Regardless, Saddam refused to play nice with the U.N. inspectors. I think that's pretty unimpeachable. Seems like the facts pro and con are already in the light.
 
What's to sell? The "evidence" was paper thin to begin with. Regardless, Saddam refused to play nice with the U.N. inspectors. I think that's pretty unimpeachable. Seems like the facts pro and con are already in the light.

The UNSCOM team was penetrated by the CIA and Saddam knew it, with forces massing on your border, would you fall for that again?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/301168.stm
 
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The bulk of the Tonkin Gulf Incident reports and plans were declassified in the early 1990s. I was in a military history instructor certification class at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at time. We were briefed.
 
The bulk of the Tonkin Gulf Incident reports and plans were declassified in the early 1990s. I was in a military history instructor certification class at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at time. We were briefed.

Suitably vague. Was it declassified as in you could talk to West Point recruits about it or was it publically declassified?
 
Suitably vague. Was it declassified as in you could talk to West Point recruits about it or was it publically declassified?

It was still classified at the time of the class and the military historian who briefed us said it would be declassified within the next few weeks. It was. Headlines and books were written at the time.

The declassification included the all-important pennant numbers of the black-ops boats which were built in Norway and the admission that the commanders of the boats were "recently retired" U.S. military officers who "unretired" after the mission. There was also an admission that it was a mission which was concieved, planned and condoned by President Johnson and his administration, including McNamara.

This latest declassification merely confirms what was already declassified. It's very important to have a second source verify and validate the previous documents, though.
 

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