I'm not old enough, but i remember it from history class.  In fact, one of
the destroyers were put out there so that the enemy can spot it easily and
shoot at it....reason for war!

Me afraid Bush Administration might do something that sneaky with Iraq, so
everyone will be on their side.



-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 11:35 AM
To: CF-Community
Subject: Tonkin 2 ??


anybody else old enough to remember the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution during LBJ's presidency?

The administration claimed that the destroyer U.S.S.
Maddox was innocently on routine patrol in the South
China Sea, when it was subjected to unprovoked attack by
a pair of North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats.

Based on this, LBJ got the Congress to pass the
resolution authorizing any necessary measures, including
military force.

This resolution became the administration's legal
foundation for the entire Vietnam conflict, although war
was never declared.

It later came to light that the Maddox was not
innocently on patrol, it was participating in naval
exercises against North Vietnam in conjunction with the
South Vietnamese Navy.  Further, the administration
admitted that the Maddox had not been fired upon - that
was a fabrication for the purposes of getting Congress
to pass the resolution.

"Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat
it" or something like that...

<sigh>

-Ben


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