How The US Government Deceived A Nation Over Vietnam War | White House Tapes | Timeline

foreign this is a propaganda film purporting to show a U.S naval Destroyer defending itself against an unprovoked attack by communist torpedo Boats off the coast of North Vietnam it's a reconstruction of what became known as the Tomkin Gulf Institute President Johnson's justification for his momentous decision in 1964 to bomb North Vietnam for the first time but the film was never released because the story it told was untrue the true story of that decision is different a story of deliberate deception of the Congress and the People by the Johnson Administration we were heading to when you're going to war and I with the thought that Congress would have insisted that people level with the you know with the United States people oh certainly I think is a terrible mistake at the heart of the story are recordings of telephone calls made at the time by President Johnson himself and now released after more than 30 years we have recreated many of the scenes that followed but the words you'll hear are real uh this boy our friend Hubert is just destroying himself with his big mouth we just got to understand that you can't talk about war plans and he just ought to keep his goddamn big mouth shut on Foreign Affairs at least until the election's over foreign [Applause] in the spring of 1964 South Vietnam was on the verge of collapse one political cool followed another and the streets of Saigon had been reduced to Anarchy the conflict then was between South Vietnam and the Communist North America provided the South with military aid but not fighting men the CIA warned the president that the South could fall to the Communists within months Johnson had always had serious misgivings about America's involvement but he was a man who liked to win at everything he touched he called his secretary of defense Robert McNamara and told him to go to Saigon and do something constructive I I saw a little glimmer of hope on Vietnam in some paper today where we'd routed some and killed a few and run them out or something that you haven't you getting any good cables on them at all well I read that article Mr President the official battle report wasn't as good as the newspaper report for once and we got anybody in that's got a military mind that can give us some military plans so but we went in that war let's get some more or something my friend because I'm going to have a heart attack if you don't get me something what I wanted somebody that can lay out some plans to trap these guys and what the hell out of them kill some of them that's what I want to do I'll try and bring something back that we'll meet that objective thanks after reviewing the situation in Vietnam McNamara recommended that to avert certain defeat of the South America must become directly involved in the war starting with covert operations against North Vietnam Johnson agreed he approved the top secret program codenamed opplan34a for Commando raids on the North Vietnamese Coast they will be planned directed by the Chiefs of Staff in Washington and the commanders themselves all indo-chinese would be trained by U.S Navy Special Forces the planning for those Commando rates for the teams that attacked those Coastal targets was done by us by Americans we briefly Vietnamese teams conducted the Intensive training in the kinds of explosives that might be used on those particular raids and right before the operation put the the team into isolation and briefed them on the particular targets that they were going to attack a second separate covert operation involved U.S Navy destroyers especially fitted out to gather electronic intelligence codenamed DeSoto patrols they would operate in the same general area in the Gulf of Tonkin off the north London East Coast on July the 31st four assaultcraft left the Upland base at Danang flying the Stars and Stripes once in North Vietnamese waters the flags were stowed away history hit is an award-winning streaming platform built by history fans for history fans our goal is to bring you award-winning documentaries that cover the events and figures that have shaped our world all in one place travel with us to the fascinating world of prehistoric Scotland or uncover the lives of the people who called Pompeii home we also aim to bring you the stories and legends that shaped our world through our award-winning podcast Network sign up now for a free trial and timeline fans get 50 of their first three months just be sure to use the code timeline at checkout the Commandos attacked radar stations on two offshore islands in the Gulf of Tonkin within ours the U.S Destroyer Medics fitted out for a DeSoto Patrol arrived in the Gulf heading north towards the islands the Commandos had just attacked it's quite possible it seems to me that being on the receiving end of recoila's rifle fire on an island uh in the Tonkin Gulf uh and then seeing a destroyer approaching that island that one would think that the Destroyer was coming in to give a repeat of the medicine that had been dosed out the night before so would you say that he was in fact a pretty provocative operation yes it was now the morning of August the 2nd the Medics on a course that would have taken her past the island that had just been attacked saw several North Vietnamese Gunners approaching the crew went to battle stations we were up there with on the DeSoto Patrol doing our electronic surveillance and we picked up these contacts sometime in the afternoon three high-speed contacts that were coming after us we fired a warning shot over their bouts and they just kept coming the U.S aircraft carrier Ticonderoga on station 100 miles to the South now sent aircraft to help the Destroyer which had come under torpedo attack these things are probably running somewhere around maybe four or five feet below the surface and you could clearly see them coming through the water I would say they probably came within about a 200 yards of us but you could clearly see them the Mavericks headed out to sea firing at the pursuing North Vietnamese gun boats the noise was unbelievable the concussions were so bad and so loud we didn't have time to get earplugs I can remember the commanding officer I had blood running out of both his ears and I had blood running out of one ear the battle lasted less than 30 minutes Maddox hit by one small piece of shrapnel suffered no captions it reported two enemy craft destroyed back in Washington McNamara advised the president not to retaliate explaining how the attack on the Destroyer had virtually coincided with the Commando raids we had four TP boats from Vietnam Man by Vietnamese or other Nationals attacked two islands and we expended uh oh a thousand rounds of ammunition one kind or another against them like we probably shot up a radar station a few other miscellaneous buildings and following 24 hours after that with this destroyer in that same area undoubtedly LED them to connect the two events I wish that uh to give me some guidance on what we ought to say I want to leave an impression that we're going to be firm as hell without saying something is dangerous uh the people are calling me up they all they will Navy responded wonderfully and that's good but they want to be damn sure I don't pull them out and run and they want to be damn sure that we're fine we sure ought to always leave the impression that if you shoot at us he's going to get hit meeting his military commanders Johnson ordered further Commander raids on North Vietnam another was scheduled for the following night Monday August the 3rd although the attack on the Destroyer was reported publicly nothing was said of the Reds but in a lunchtime call to a friend Johnson ineffective Mitty dip as the raids that it provoked North Vietnam's attack we've been playing around with her and they came out give us a warning and we now tell Adam we are within their 12 mile limit there have been some uh covert operations in that area that we have been carrying on blowing up some bridges and things of that kind so I imagine they wanted to put a stop to it so they come out there and fire and we respond immediately we them up and then we go right back where we were with that destroyer and with another and plus of plenty of planes and we've just we haven't pulled out we pulled up the officer commanding the DeSoto Patrol recommending pulling out the answer was no instead a second Destroyer the Turner Joy joined the Maddox and a second carrier the constellation was sent to reinforce the Ticonderoga in the next few hours the gap between what actually happened at Sea and what was alleged to have happened began to win the two destroyers were ordered to sail on a course that took them within 11 miles of the North Vietnamese coast and within four miles of North Vietnam's offshore Islands there was no attempt at concealment the operation would take place in full daylight officers about the Medics thought their orders dangerously provocative question in my mind is why why would you send us back up in there as after what had happened what was the purpose most of us felt like we were sitting ducks I as a Communications obviously it was was ordered to burn all my superseded classified documents as well as only maintain three days worth of codes destroy everything else beyond that reaction was that we wouldn't take these actions unless someone felt an attack was eminent that we were being sent up there to be attacked again basic assumption a lot of us made at the Pentagon McNamara had spent the morning preparing plans for retaliation against any attack on the Destroyers at lunchtime he called the president to tell him they were ready surprised like we have prepared and just completed very detailed target analyzes of the targets of North Vietnam as a matter of fact in 10 minutes I'm going over with the Chiefs the final work on this we have pictures analyzes numbers authorities bomb loadings everything prepared for all the target systems of North Vietnam furthermore we prepared detailed movement studies of any contingency forces required air squadrons Etc okay a few hours later an American listening post overlooking the commander base at dunnell picked up a signal apparently indicating that the flotilla of North Vietnamese torpedo boats had put to Sea The Intercept was relayed to Pacific Fleet headquarters in Honolulu to the Destroyers on patrol and the Pentagon everybody assumed an attack would come within hours McNamara called the president to recommend prop retaliation you after a second attack on our ships that we do retaliate against the coast of North Vietnam some way or other what I was thinking weakness of our position is that we respond only to an action and we don't have any of our own but when they when they move on us and they shoot at us I think we not only ought to shoot it down but almost simultaneously uh uh put one of these things that you've you've been doing I know one of their Bridges or something exactly I I quite agree with you Mr President I I wish we could have something that we've already picked out and uh and just hit about three of them damn quick correct answer we will have that and be prepared to recommend to you a response a retaliation move against North Vietnam in the event this attack takes place within the next six to nine hours I want to keep this as close as I can so let's just try to keep it to the two be prepared to do so with lunch all right okay thank you that night the two men were building up an Unstoppable momentum for war [Music] out in the tank in Gulf it was a dirty night on the two destroyers all hands were on edge as we headed out at the gulf at a high speed through this this heavy sea State and the storm we started to pick up numerous and I radar contacts reported at various speeds different bearings there were numerous ones I can't remember exactly how many there were but there were numerous contacts the data was calling at us so quickly that it became almost impossible to interpret at the point at that point what was happening at his desk at the Pentagon McNamara was getting ready to retaliate before a single shot had been fired secretary we are calling line oh yeah a retaliate should you wish to do so seventy percent of the petroleum supply of North Vietnam we believe is concentrated in three dumps and we can bomb those bomb or strafe those uh dumps destroy the petroleum system in addition there are certain Prestige targets that we've been working on the last several months and we have Target folders prepared on those for example there is a bridge that is the the Key Bridge on the rail line sound out of uh out of Hanoi and we could destroy that and there are other Prestige targets of that time just before 11 o'clock night time in the gulf and morning in Washington McNamara received news from the front had a report from the commander that task force out there that they have cited two unidentified vessels and three unidentified prop aircraft and therefore the carrier launched eight aircraft to uh examine what's in the vicinity of the Destroyers and to protect the Destroyers it was a dark night it was no moon we were flying three flights three aircraft in our flight we were flying without any lights of course we we did not want to be seen or detected as we approached the target we heard all this commotion on the frequencies of the Destroyers it was sort of high pitch calling out this calling out that excited voices Panic set in you have people shouting we've got a PT Port bearing you know two three zero zero nine zero and then the next thing you you start to hear is Torpedoes in the water we fired numerous rounds we had these PT boats that were being reported to us zigzagging to try and avoid the torpedoes and after a while we had so many Torpedoes in the water it became unbelievable that we could have that many Torpedoes in the water but it was a frightening time you're dealing with a with a crow a little sleep TIG tired and now this in the middle of the night so it was a time when people were panicking hello secretary McNamara and I know listen we just had word by telephone from Admiral sharp that the Destroyer is under torpedo attack why are these Torpedoes coming from well we don't know presumably from these unidentified craft that I mentioned to you a moment ago and we thought that the unidentified craft might include one one PT Boat which has torpedo capability and two SWAT top boats which we don't credit with torpedo capability although they may have it both the Destroyer is the combination of atrocious weather untrained Crews and lack of sleep had brought chaos in the confusion the Maddox came within seconds of sinking the Turner Joy with the Salvo from its five-inch guns one of our Fire Control was in fact locked on but basically refused to fire their guns as ordered and it later was when they asked the Turner joy to turn on its lights they turn on and turn a joy did turn on her running lights they were targeting the Turner Joy messages in code flashed back and forth between the Destroyers in the Gulf Admiral shop in Honolulu and Pentagon and the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office everyone was at Battle Stations presumably the planes are attacking the the ships the report is that they have observed and we don't know by what means whether this is radar or otherwise I suspect it's radar two unidentified vessels and three unidentified prop aircraft in the vicinity of the Destroyers if we don't have any uh word from from sharp on that the planes would be in the area at the present time all all eight of them okay but McNamara 12 000 miles from the supposed action was guessing the fact was that neither Destroyer had actually cited an enemy overhead aircraft from both carriers searched the sea from his fight Obama Lieutenant Alvarez dropped a semi-circle of flares Illuminating a wide stretch of water below I heard over the uh the radio was beautiful right on and actually what it did is it basically lit up the sky right almost right over the two Destroyers I could see the the Maddox that Turner Joy they were bobbing around in the sea and it was one was like heading in this direction another one was like in this direction and I could see them very plainly and I immediately looked to see if I could see anything out here in this area I could see are two destroyers but I saw nothing else the pilots returned for a debriefing on the aircraft carrier the Admiral was there he wanted to know what we what we saw and I said I did not see anything he got a little irritated he says what what are you guys all not me but all of us do you think that they're making up stories that were lying about this making up stories uh none of you saw anything out there and we said hey we're just telling you what we saw and and we didn't see anything and he finally said okay okay boys well thank you and that was it not only the Airmen were puzzled in Saigon American officers running that night's Coastal Commando raid had been monitoring enemy radio traffic for any signs of an attack on their assault craft Colonel Russell and I were in our little communications center at sag headquarters honoring 34 Alpha and uh we were watching events unfold and watch again the primary source of information was the communications intelligence as far as allegedly what happened of North America action against uh art of stories out there we saw nothing that we didn't even indicate that there were any North Vietnamese boys out they're all important and after this thing closed Colonel Russell made the comment he says the Navy shooting at Wales that was his way of saying there where North End he's out there puts out there this was uh a non-event as far as the Northbound music are concerned when Dawn broke in the Gulf officers on the Medics held an impromptu inquest after it was over I walked into the word room with several other officers and sat down with commander ozer who was at that time our commanding officer and I can remember his words to the effect that I don't think this happened we started to question ourselves to the point that as I recall the Commodore sent a message up through sync pack Fleet to to question his own messages that he had sent several hours earlier as to whether or not this really was a valid attack the Task Force Commander was kept in John Herrick the signal he now sent to Honolulu relayed to the Pentagon was to abbreviate his career it read review of action makes many reported contacts and Torpedoes fired appeared doubtful freak weather effects on radar and over eager sonar men may have accounted for many reports no actual visual sightings by Maddox suggest complete evaluation before any further action taken the question is who Saul Captain herrick's message Admiral shop CNC Pacific discussed it with McNamara who demanded more information but among the many recorded telephone calls there are none suggesting the president was told hello secretary McNamara and I know but the story was running out of control first reports of the supposed engagement had reached journalists and George radio on agree now on a statement that could be made by one of the Departments I presume the Pentagon the statement that we would make I would propose and simply say that during the night the two destroyers were attacked by uh Patrol boats the attack was driven off no casualties are damaged to the Destroyers we believe uh uh several of the patrol Boats were sunk details won't be available until daylight that's okay all right I just won't put that out all right I'll take care of it the leak had come from one of the Congressional leaders Johnson had summoned to the White House for a private briefing Johnson was Furious aren't you afraid of that no it's not AP and you be standing outside the doors now because one of them told me a moment ago you are and wait he was telling that they had a report in the Pentagon the two destroyers there's been some so it's not posed to me at all think about the next hour hello yes uh do we always get out these meetings can we have a meeting with a Conga Congress without them announcing it oh my God somebody's announcing yes they all announced it they were all told it was off the Record Mr President as always that it was off the record and then consequently uh they were to come in the back door so it's not to be seen Congressional sources said leaders of both parties been called at 6 45 White House leadership conference presumably call to breathe lawmakers on the ladies PT Boat attack they were all told it was off the Record so okay much fun thank you this was the moment when the administration took the faithful step of ignoring evidence that the Destroyers had not been attacked Johnson had already decided to go on Primetime television to announce his decision to bomb North Vietnam and then to ask Congress for authority to take further action he telephoned a congressman from Texas we're going to retaliate and we'll make an announcement a little later in the evening the next hour or so and we'll probably ask Congress for a resolution tomorrow or next day uh to support us oh yes well as you know you'll get whatever you want but I don't know I hope so if you don't react when they shoot at your ships on the high seas 60 miles from Shore you can't appear to be a weak guard a piecing on a thing when the issue is so clearly drawn they attacked us yesterday and they attacked us again today yeah you're on the right track and thanks so much for calling thank you because I spent hours say from roughly nine in the morning to such as six in the evening a probing was sharp and the commander of the Madison Turner joy to determine whether it was probable the second attack had occurred and we concluded Psy Vance and I and the chairman of Joint Chiefs and the Chiefs about I think it was 6 p.m that night we concluded it was probably had occurred and because there were many who thought we should have responded to the first attack it was clear we should respond to the probable second and we did what clinched the murder for McNamara was a call from Admiral shop to say they'd intercepted a coded signal from North Vietnam's Navy headquarters in haifong describing a battle at sea for many years McNamara called it irrefutable evidence from an unimpeachable Source the truth is that in the rush to retaliate and get the president on television nobody noticed it was describing the earlier action against the Medics alone the custodian at The Intercept is the National Security Agency unaccountably the original has disappeared but in 1970 two members of the staff for the Senate were shown a copy my reading of it was something quite different from the interpretation put up on it by McNamara my reading of it was it was clearly a message which related to the August 2nd incident and after Action Battle report if you will that it didn't relate to the August 4th incident at all at the time only a CIA director John McCone remained skeptical about a second attack after the first real Attack were coded argued that Hanoi was reacting to the proximity in time and place of the Destroyer patrols and the Commando raids everything suspecting that the second attack was imaginary McCune sent for the Medics is radar logs and ordered his own staff expert the cia's head of radar analysis to examine them these are the handwritten Originals it was a description of times and events targets detected reported by a radar operator a sonar operator whatever it was very migrant data it seemed fragmentary and I said if you get me the rest of the story I can give you a good solid answer of whether those whether there were torpedo boats out there or not it's that simple within about one hour my boss returned with the same papers and now there was a sense of urgency about him he didn't move fast that often but this morning he did and he said Gene no other information will be forthcoming you've got to do the best job you can with the information you've got and then he added as quickly as possible petite has never found out who blocked his request for more data if he had been given what he needed could Macon have offered the president a definite answer had the destroyer's radar detected hostile craft or was nothing there if I had the answers to my questions by say one or two o'clock in the afternoon quick Communications which I think were possible then the answer is yes you could have come up with a definitive decision absolutely it happened or did not happen absolutely meanwhile out on the carriers crewman was struggling to re-arm their planes for an attack on North Vietnam the president was desperate to announce the bombing before the television audience was fast asleep and the final editions of next day's papers had been put to bed yeah I just talked to Admiral sharp again he's been in contact with the carriers they have not been able to launch yet they won't launch for another about 45 minutes they should launch at 10 pm and what's delayed itself just the the limitations of time Mr President we ask an awful lot of them they said initially they could do it but uh it's proven now they couldn't they had to brief the crews and load the aircraft with specific types of weapons for these particular targets and it took more time than they anticipated and how they would you be willing to hold the state I just uh I guess we could hold it till 11 o'clock news okay thank you Johnson had been on the telephone since nine o'clock in the morning and now it was 9 pm his 51st recorded phone call of the day came from upstairs uh I just wanted to see whenever you all alone [Music] [Music] I'll bring anybody who's a bachelor who wants to eat or who would otherwise be doing without supper until real late with you will you okay bye the TV networks were admitted to the White House soon after 10. to avoid warning Hanoi of the attack that was coming Johnson had agreed to delay his broadcast until American planes were over their targets at 11 25 he put on his jacket leaving McGeorge Bundy his National Security adviser to take the long-awaited call from McNamara at the Pentagon McNamara they launched 40 minutes ago oh that's good definite affirmative confirmed confirmed yes Hey Kevin we're going in about 10 minutes all right that's sure that's excellent uh you're certain you're going in 10 minutes in about 10 that's all right from your point of view sure I just want to plan it here and I definitely confirmed launch 40 minutes ago thank you Bob okay thanks it was after 11 30 before the president went on air even so planes from the second carrier the constellation still were not ready that renewed hostile actions against United States ships on the high seas and the Gulf of Cancun have today required me to order the military forces of the United States to take action in reply and with that after one more call the president went to bed not telling anything at all happens call me here I tell that situation I'll do that all time tonight I don't give a damn I want to keep just as close to a disadvise in The Situation Room all right okay [Music] this was the moment when America took over the war from the two carriers 64 aircraft took off for North Vietnam their targets included torpedo boat bases petroleum Supply dumps and anti-aircraft batteries from the constellation Lieutenant Alvarez his single engine fighter bomber had been loaded with rockets and bombs [Music] it was our very very first Venture into the north of Vietnam and Frankly Speaking the general mood of the pilots was you know we've been taking enough crap for quite a while it's about time we're doing something let's go do it was a nice clear day as we approached the coast we flipped on our switches and arm and switches and everything was set as we got close I could look right over and on holy smokes and there they were ships lined up we came in and I could see that the fort three or four the torpedo Boats were in flames in making that exit that's when I got hit my plane just basically you know went out of control I had no control over it it was on fire there was an explosion on my left side I could feel that it must have my wing must have started to come off because it just started to roll over and I knew there was no way I could control it I had to get out and get out quick if I was going to live that was the beginning of my new life you might say he was North Vietnam's first ever American prisoner of war you then spent eight years in North Vietnamese prison camps uh well I spent eight and a half years six months makes a difference [Music] after midnight while the air attacks were still underway a buoyant McNamara briefed reporters at the Pentagon describing the attacks on the Destroyers is entirely unprovoked he claimed that throughout their patrol the two ships had remained at a distance of at least 30 miles from North Vietnam's Coast he emitted to mention that only that morning he'd told the president their limit was 11 miles the course of of our destroyers operating 30 40 to 60 miles off the coast of North Vietnam international waters moving Southward it was a confident performance until a reporter strayed into Dangerous Waters can you give us the basic reasons for the uh Gulf of Tonkin Patrol it's a routine patrol of the type We Carry Out in international waters all over the world does it have anything to do with the movements of uh junk service no there has no special relationship to to uh uh any uh operations in that area and we we're carrying routine patrols of this kind uh on all over the world all the time do you have any idea why the North Vietnamese none next morning the president was due to make a speech at Syracuse University he kept the engagement but his speech had to be Rewritten overnight his subject had been discernment the attacks were deliberate the attacks were unprovoked the attacks have been answered [Applause] the world remembers the world must never forget that aggression unchallenged his aggression Unleashed back at the Pentagon McNamara was announcing details of the ample forces he promised the president even before the second supposed attack last night I announced that moves run away to reinforce our forces in the Pacific area an attack carrier group has been transferred from the First Fleet on the Pacific coast to the Western Pacific secondly Interceptor and fighter bomber aircraft have been moved into South Vietnam thirdly fighter bomber aircraft have been moved into Thailand fourthly Interceptor and fighter bomber squadrons have been transferred from the United States into advanced bases in the Pacific fifthly an Anna submarine task force group has been moved into the South China Sea and finally selected Army and Marine forces have been alerted and readied for movement as the Juggernaut rolled into action truth was the first casualty Johnson wanted the ascent of congress with a minimum of debate or qualification beside himself when the loquacious Senator Hubert Humphrey the man he planned to make his running mate in the coming presidential election talked about the Commando raids in public Johnson determined to protect the authorized version of events called a mutual friend how you doing I'm doing fine yeah pretty good I don't know uh I don't know how to get this message over but uh this boy our friend Hubert is just destroying himself with his big mouth he went on the TV and every person in town that's handling War plans it just scared them to death because he just blabbed everything that he had heard in a briefing just like it was his personal knowledge they said for instance how would you account for these uh PT about attacked on our destroyers when we innocently out there and the gulf 60 miles from Shore Humphrey said well we have been carrying on some operations in that area and we've been having some covert operations where we have been going in and knocking out roads and petroleum things and so forth and that's exactly what we have been doing but the damn fool got it up and now he's got Morris talking about it there wasn't in on the briefing and it's just uh he just got to understand that you can't talk about war plans you just can't talk about and he just ought to keep his goddamn big mouth shut on Foreign Affairs at least until the election's over on the morning of the sixth McNamara drove to Capitol Hill to persuade Congress to cede its War making powers to the president a closed Committee hearing on what became the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was cursory with only one Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon asking awkward questions about covert operations coinciding with attacks on Destroyers answer was this our Navy played absolutely no part in was not associated with was not aware of South Vietnamese actions if there were any insisted that our PT that our destroyers were there to back up he said it on television last night he said that he said we were launching our PT boats from the Destroyer yeah well I I just absolutely denied and I insisted the record being made clear this when I just got back from the house and Senator it went very well but on the whole I think the hearings were very satisfactory it was just a near unanimous support for not only for everything you've done in which you have no support for that but near unanimous support for everything you may do in the future and generally a blank check authorization for further action it seems to be there was that from the outset a deliberate attempt to mislead the Congress now the administration no no please let me put my car okay okay in every document and every transcript I have looked at I have seen the raids that occurred at the same time as those Destroyer patrols described as South Vietnamese raids every time you go before the Congressional leaders you insist this is a South Vietnamese operation you insist that the U.S Navy was not aware of it now everybody knows that those South Vietnamese were the people the bodies everything else was American why could you not have come clean with the American leadership in executive session I think you're totally wrong I just like you're totally no no no all right no no no no no no no no no no on the contrary read read the testimony that Rusk and I gave to the Congress we told the Congress of the what are known as 34A raids these were were actually pin Pricks but nothing let me finish now these were pinpricks uh by by uh Patrol boats or aircraft launched from South Vietnam and as you suggested uh done with the knowledge and assistance of the U.S controlled by the U.S planned by the U.S I stated that my testimony before the Congress is very clear in that on August 3rd I told the committee of the 34A the so-called covert operations and and that it was uh carried out by South Vietnamese Personnel under with U.S assistance with the full knowledge and planning of sync back and general krulak who was part of the joint staff in the Pentagon and that this was fully disclosed now you implied we deceived him I don't think we did to see them I think the whole discussion of deception and whether I deceived the Congress is totally uh unreasonable the fact of what I'm reading from the record deal with this I'm going to go on with the interview we're going to handle it this way oh well I apologize I'm just not going to do it I just soon stopped the interview right now because you can I mean you have a right to but I mean there is no record of what McNamara told Congressional leaders informally on August the 3rd but we have obtained the full transcript of his testimony to the Senate following Relations Committee on August the 6th four times he declared that the Commando raids were South Vietnamese operations there was no disclosure to the committee or any member of it he said nothing about this he kept it uh that there was not a single word mentioned about these about these operations or American involvement or a crew lock or whoever it may be and frankly it would have been totally inconsistent with administration's view of how to address the Congress the the strategy was to keep it simple keep it brief with no ambiguity this would have introduced ambiguity from the very start it makes no sense and it wasn't true as a lieutenant cathol Flynn had trained the Commandos on the beach at danan he retired from Special Forces as an admiral I was surprised that the denial was so categorical you think they should have come clean tell the truth well at least to the leaders of Congress an executive session possibly oh yes oh yes I mean we were heading to to war and you'd better level with uh with Congress uh when you're going to war and I would have thought that Congress would have insisted that people level with the you know with the United States people oh certainly I think it's a terrible mistake in the event the cover-up succeeded the debates in Congress were a formality only two senators voted against the Tonkin Gulf resolution by now the only threat to the official story could come from inquisitive reporters as McNamara warned the present do you think that if you have a press conference con Vietnamese that their strike on the second against the Maddox for his retaliation for U.S participation in the strike of July 3031 against those islands I called Mac this morning and asked him to write a specific question and a specific answer to this this is a very delicate subject and he and I agreed on such an answer he said he would get it to him well the none of it is that the Jews State categorically that U.S forces did not participate in were not associated with any alleged incident of that kind they weren't even in the area at that point it didn't enter the area two days later so now it grows with a lot of conversation here within Washington and in the Press on this subject I think it's one that you have to disassociate yourself from and and uh and certainly not admit that any such incident took place but neither should you get in a position of denying it and it would be very unfortunate if they developed proof it the Jew in effect in this stated the case it would take another four years and another Senate Hearing in 1968 before the cover-up began to come apart by then the president's credibility was in shreds nevertheless the government's version of events as pushed by the newsreels at the time has never been withdrawn Swift and sure has been U.S retaliation for communist PT vote attacks on the high seas this is the Medics one of the two destroyers that were attacked while patrolling international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin near North Vietnam war planes from two carriers the Ticonderoga and the constellation Avenge the unwarranted red assault with 64 assorties to North Vietnam PT basins 25 votes more than half the fleet were destroyed and North Vietnam oil reserves badly depleted it is estimated 10 percent went up in Flames after direct hits the Pentagon said two pilots were lost one was reported to be a prisoner of the Reds the U.S Ortiz were launched for one purpose as a warning to the Communists that unprovoked attacks will bring prompt response as always political differences faded in the United States and leaders of both parties united behind the president to Grant him all powers necessary to carry out our commitments to defend World Peace Johnson had signed the Tonkin Gulf resolution on August the 10th just a week after the so-called incident a blank check his administration was later to call the functional equivalent of a declaration of war and I pledge to all Americans to use those Powers with all the wisdom and the judgment that God grants to me standing behind the president was Senator William Fulbright he had steered the resolution through Congress acting in the belief he said later than in its dealings with Congress the government told the truth you gotta remember the senator Fulbright was a politician of the old school he was a gentleman and he just did not believe that his president his secretary of state and the secretary's defense would deceive him and try to pull the wool over his eyes and and asking for his support for a matter of this nature he was deceived and he felt very very badly about his the worst incident he said that ever happened to him in his career foreign not a single American died or was wounded in the Tonkin Gulf incident but that trivial encounter at Sea became the pretext for an American takeover of an Asian War the War cost Lyndon Johnson his presidency and it ended 11 years later in the sheet far worse it cost over 58 000 American and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese knives we shall probably never know whether any of the evidence casting doubt on a second attack was ever shown to President Johnson or whether his closest advisors ever said Mr President let us wait until we are 100 sure

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

Views: 230,546

Keywords: American history, American politics, Anti-war protest, Awarded series, Civil rights movement, Controversial figures, Discover, Documentary, Espionage, FBI surveillance, Government transparency, Matt Lewis, Past, Political machinations, Timeline, Timeline - World History Documentaries, US Government, Vietnam battle strategies, Vietnam-era politics, War documentary, War history

Id: NA_R9HbNjJ0

Length: 50min 34sec (3034 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 08 2023