In the end he concluded that there were no torpedo boats on the night in question, and that the White House was interested only in confirmation of an attack, not that there was no such attack. Brought to you by the CDC. [34] Although information obtained well after the fact supported Captain Herrick's statements about the inaccuracy of the later torpedo reports as well as the 1981 Herrick and Scheer conclusion about the inaccuracy of the first, indicating that there was no North Vietnamese attack that night, at the time U.S. authorities and all of the Maddox's crew stated that they were convinced that an attack had taken place. The Gulf of Tonkin false flag operation actually happened. Cecil Stoughton/U.S. The Cold War policy of containment was to be applied to prevent the fall of Southeast Asia to communism under the precepts of the domino theory. Some people suspected the deception all along. I think it is now clear [the second attack] did not occur" Defense Secretary Robert McNamara[7], One hour later, Herrick sent another cable, stating, "Entire action leaves many doubts except for apparent ambush at beginning. 10 false flags operations that shaped our world - THIRD WORLD TRAVELER Please help support Dispropaganda by clicking on the "Donate" button and making a 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. 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. But the reports were false and the president knew it. assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a study by NSA historian Robert J. Hanyok. Any truth to this claim? On August 2, it was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. [20] For the maritime portion of the covert operation, a set of fast patrol boats had been purchased quietly from Norway and sent to South Vietnam. The pilots from the Ticonderoga aircraft responded, flying overhead the destroyers for an hour and a half. The latest releases, which document skepticism over the pretext for entry into the Vietnam war, date from 1968. . 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 . This lie jumpstarted a war that would claim 58,220 American and more than 3 million Vietnamese lives. Lots of the 'nuts' sure . 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. [18] Johnson's views were likewise complex, but he had supported military escalation as a means of challenging what was perceived to be the Soviet Union's expansionist policies. Although the Johnson administration knew that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was, in fact, no incident at all, they still made the executive decision to distort the events in their favor. As we approach the 51st anniversary of the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, an act that essentially kicked off the "hot" portion of the Vietnam War, we had an opportunity on The Liberty Brothers Radio Show to interview a man who was in the Gulf of Tonkin 51 years ago this week. Then read these 27 Vietnam War facts that will change the way you think about American history. It was tantamount to a declaration of war, but it was based on a lie. For example, some of the signals intercepted during those August evenings were falsified, while others were altered to show different time receipts. [24] On July 31, 1964, Maddox had begun her mission in the Gulf of Tonkin. President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky in Honolulu. Cecil Stoughton/U.S. But not every event is a false flag . There were no U.S. casualties, and no further U.S. action was taken. [47] On May 4, 1964, William Bundy had called for the U.S. to "drive the communists out of South Vietnam", even if that meant attacking both North Vietnam and communist China. His actions would lead to the deaths of 58,220 Americans and an untold number of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians. The incident served as the justification for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution passed by Congress Aug. 10, which authorized the subsequent U.S. build-up of forces. Maddox suffered only minor damage from a single 14.5mm bullet from a P-4's KPV heavy machine gun into her superstructure. The three skippers did not know who Meyer really was when they agreed to a job that involved them in sabotage missions against North Vietnam. 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. [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. Gulf of Tonkin false flag | Thrive Debunked The Gulf of Tonkin by Erich Martel, The World Today, Vol. 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). The NSA states, James Stockdale, then a navy pilot at the scene, who had the best seat in the house from which to detect boats, saw nothing. On the evening of August 4, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson addressed the nation in a televised speech in which he announced that two days earlier, U.S. ships had been attacked twice in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin near North Vietnam. However, the truth of what really happened in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 4 1964, was very different. On 30 November 2005, the National Security Agency (NSA) released the first installment of previously classified information regarding the Vietnam era, specifically the Gulf of Tonkin incident. 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. [60], In 2014, as the incident's 50th anniversary approached, John White wrote The Gulf of Tonkin EventsFifty Years Later: A Footnote to the History of the Vietnam War. Additionally, he concluded that many pieces of evidence were carefully picked to distort the truth. False Flags are Real - US Has a Long History of Lying to Start Wars Not every lie made the war seem better, though. William Bundy's paper dated September 8, 1964, suggested more DESOTO patrols as well. 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. [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. [47] Various government officials and men aboard Maddox have suggested similar theories. . During the summer of 1964, President Johnson and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were eager to widen the war in Vietnam. President Johnson signed this into law three days later, privately remarking that the resolution was like Grandmas nightshirt. Was the Gulf of Tonkin Incident a false flag operation? - Quora [5] On the night of July 30, 1964, South Vietnamese commandos attacked a North Vietnamese radar station on Hn M island. The U.S. Navy destroyer didnt attack the North Vietnamese directly, but it did gather intelligence in sync with South Vietnamese attacks on the North. [57], In 1995, retired Vietnamese Defense Minister, V Nguyn Gip, meeting with former Secretary McNamara, denied that Vietnamese gunboats had attacked American destroyers on August 4, while admitting to the attack on August 2. [19], A highly classified program of covert actions against North Vietnam, known as Operation Plan 34-Alpha, in conjunction with the DESOTO operations, had begun under the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1961. 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. The North Vietnamese Communist Party approved a "people's war" on the South at a session in January 1959,[15]:119120 and on July 28, North Vietnamese forces invaded Laos to maintain and upgrade the Ho Chi Minh trail, in support of insurgents in the south. 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. [13] In March 1956, the North Vietnamese leadership approved tentative measures to revive the southern insurgency in December 1956. "[33], McNamara later testified that he had read the message after his return to the Pentagon that afternoon. Stockdale was always adamant that no attack ever occurred on August 4. Theme: Bushwick by James Dinsdale. And because it was highly probableand because even if it hadn't occurred, there was strong feeling we should have responded to the first attack, which we were positive had occurredPresident Johnson decided to respond to the second [attack]. The second Tonkin Gulf incident was claimed to have taken place on August 4, 1964. [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. But false flags are a very real and very present feature of geopolitics and denying that is simply denying reality. . 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. Via: ibtimes.co.uk. 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. This would have been communicated back to the NSA along with evidence supporting such a conclusion, but in fact the evidence did not do that. 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. In 1964, South Vietnam began conducting a series of attacks and missions along the North Vietnamese coasts, backed by the United States. "[55] White continued his whistleblowing activities in the 1968 documentary In the Year of the Pig. Two well-known incidents in American history the explosion of the U.S.S. Though LBJ knew there was no second battle, he kept this information secret and beat the drums of war. 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. Gulf of Tonkin incident - Wikipedia 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. 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. [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. Vietnam Era Pt 2 Flashcards | Quizlet Morse supposedly received a call from an informant who has remained anonymous urging Morse to investigate official logbooks of Maddox. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution | History, Facts, & Significance No boats, he would later write, no boat wakes, no ricochets off boats, no boat impacts, no torpedo wakes nothing but black sea and American fire-power. Please help support Dispropaganda by clicking on the "Donate" button and making a. The Gulf of Tonkin incident, like others in our nation's history, has become the center of considerable controversy and debate. [9] In 1995, McNamara met with former People's Army of Vietnam General V Nguyn Gip to ask what happened on August 4, 1964. All 18 of the witnesses testified at a hearing in Olongapo, Philippines, and their testimony is a matter of public record. 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.. PolitiFact | False flags: They're real, but far less widespread than This August 4 incident never happened. 209217, Adam Roberts, Fredrik Logevall, "Choosing War: The Lost Chance for Peace and the Escalation of War in Vietnam" (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), p. 200, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group, "Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish: The Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 24 August 1964". As Commander James Stockdale, one of the pilots at the Gulf of Tonkin incident, later said, I had the best seat in the house to watch that event, and our destroyers were just shooting at phantom targets there were no PT boats therenothing there but black water and American firepower.. Herrick proposed a "complete evaluation before any further action taken. 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. On the morning of 4 August, U.S. intelligence intercepted a report indicating that the communists intended to conduct offensive maritime operations in the Gulf of Tonkin. [26] Another P-4 received a direct hit from a five-inch shell from Maddox; its torpedo malfunctioned at launch. . THE POWER ELITE HAVE GONE COMPLETELY MAD! Captain Herrick radioed that the USS Maddox was under attack, and U.S. officials ordered nearby aircraft from the USS Ticonderoga to fly in as backup. This is the true story of the Gulf of Tonkin incident. 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. In August 1964, the American destroyer USS Maddox was stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam. 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. Hannah McKennett is a Dublin-based freelance writer that is dedicated to traveling the world while writing about it. National Archives and Records AdministrationPresident Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara in a cabinet room meeting. The USS Maddox evaded the torpedo attack, suffering only slight damage, and sailed off to safer waters. While Herrick soon reported doubts regarding the task forces initial perceptions of the attack, the Johnson administration relied on the wrongly interpreted National Security Agency communications intercepts to conclude that the attack was real. on Twitter: "@Poisonflats Yes 9/11 was a false flag there were so For some two hours the ships fired on ghost radar targets and maneuvered vigorously. [11] Hanyok's conclusions were initially published in the Winter 2000/Spring 2001 Edition of Cryptologic Quarterly[63] about five years before the Times article. This table contains record counts based on the codes recorded in the CASUALTY CATEGORY field of theVietnam Conflict Extract Data File. L. Paul Epley/National ArchivesTwo soldiers next to a fallen man during the Vietnam War. The article states, The incidents, principally the second one of 4 August, led to the approval of theGulf of Tonkin Resolutionby the U.S. Congress, which handed President Johnson the carte blanche charter he had wanted for future intervention in Southeast Asia. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. "[66], Hanyok included his study of Tonkin Gulf as one chapter in an overall history of NSA involvement and American SIGINT, in the Indochina Wars. A moderately sanitized version of the overall history[67] was released in January 2008 by the National Security Agency and published by the Federation of American Scientists.[68]. [47] Even so, the Johnson administration in the second half of 1964 focused on convincing the American public that there was no chance of war between the United States and North Vietnam. But the government itself wouldnt confirm Whites suspicions for decades. The first incident took place on August 2, 1964, when the destroyerUSSMaddox, engaged three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats seen approaching the Maddox. Stockdale recounts the incident at 0:37 seconds in the video below. Although there was no enemy ship, it was designed to frame the enemy (false flag operation). [46], The use of the set of incidents as a pretext for escalation of U.S. involvement followed the issuance of public threats against North Vietnam, as well as calls from American politicians in favor of escalating the war. [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. TheMaddoxfired firstdue to a belief they were under attack. From this point on, the American policy and programs would dominate the course of the Indochina.. The deeper lesson of the Tonkin Gulf episode is how a group of senior national security officials seeks determinedly through hardball - and even illicit tactics to advance its own war agenda,. 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. 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. In so doing then create a template on how to study an event and determine if it is a false flag. 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. 5 (May 1970), pp. [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. Mexican wars of 1819 and 1846-48. And the sonars were probably just catching the tops of big waves. [5], On August 3, 1964, destroyer USSTurner Joy joined Maddox and the two destroyers continued the DESOTO mission. A skirmish and confused reports of a second engagement two days later led President Lyndon B. Johnson to order airstrikes against North . China is destroying our world, and no one seems to mind. Johnson dispatched U.S. planes against the attackers and asked Congress to pass a resolution to . National Archives and Records AdministrationPresident Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky in Honolulu. While Johnson's final resolution was being drafted, U.S. 1898, on a flag-showing mission . Proudly powered by WordPress. False. After learning about the Gulf of Tonkin incident, check out these photos from the anti-Vietnam War movement. Winter War. Is it possible Lyndon Johnson was attempting another one with Israel to finish off Egypt once and for all? False Flags are Real - US Has a Long History of Lying to Start Wars Written by Danielle Ryan Tuesday April 17, 2018 Use of the term "false flag" is often met with raised eyebrows and accusations of conspiracism. Six were wounded. People on Reddit say the Gulf of Tonkin incident is an example of a [26] Four USN F-8 Crusader jets launched from Ticonderoga and 15 minutes after Maddox had fired her initial warning shots, attacked the retiring P-4s,[5] claiming one was sunk and one heavily damaged. In addition, many nations had previously carried out similar missions all over the world, and the destroyer USSJohn R. Craig had earlier conducted an intelligence-gathering mission in similar circumstances without incident. The accords, which were signed by other participants including the Viet Minh, mandated a temporary ceasefire line, which separated southern and northern Vietnam to be governed by the State of Vietnam and the Viet Minh respectively.
