The Gulf of Tonkin Final Draft
Controversy and confusion arose regarding The Gulf of Tonkin incident; a worldwide phenomenon in which the Vietnamese reportedly bombarded the U.S.S. Maddox. This occurrence increased tension between communism and capitalism. The tension culminated with President Johnson making the crucial decision to send over troops to challenge the growth of communism. The spread of communism was a perceived threat to the United States, who was desperate to put a stop to the chain of countries being converted to the communist regime; this was called the Domino Theory. The desperate measures of the U.S. may have lead to the provoking of Vietnam, which later lead to the war. Although the U.S. accuses North Vietnam of an unprovoked attack, multiple pieces of evidence point towards a provoked attack which forced North Vietnam to retaliate.
The United States proposed that the North Vietnamese violently attacked the U.S.S. Maddox in neutral waters without reasoning and the U.S responded immediately to the attack. Just five days after the attack, the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed, allowing President Johnson to increase involvement in Vietnam without actually declaring war. As stated in the beginning of Document 1, which is a speech from President Johnson: “Whereas naval units of the Communist regime in Vietnam, in violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law, have deliberately and repeatedly attacked United States naval vessels lawfully present in international waters, and have thereby created a serious threat to international peace” (Document 1). This article advocates for the innocence of the U.S. and later on speaks to the point that the U.S. had no intention or political aspiration in Vietnam besides the assistance and protection of Southeast Asia (Document 1). The article avoided the fact that the U.S. was in the process of containing communism, by arming forces with South Vietnam. America took this as an opportunity to contain communism. History notes that the United States’ battle for the stop of Communism was in full force while they were in Vietnam, which proves Document 1 wrong, when it states that, ...“the United States is assisting the peoples of the Southeast Asia to protect their freedom and has no territorial, military or political ambitions in that area”(Document 1). Despite the fact that the U.S. states: “no territorial, military or political ambitions in that area” (Document 1), their actions speak differently than their words.
The United States seemed to be waiting for war to break out without being the aggressor. The U.S. irritated and subtly provoked the Vietnamese hoping for a reaction, in this way the U.S. would be justified to fight back. A telegram from the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State uncovers the malevolent plans of the U.S.: “We want a scream from them that they had been hit by something coming from our side. I would not object if they blamed us. They could prove nothing. We could either be totally silent, or challenge them to provide proof, or say we are looking in to it” (Document 8). This document, is to a certain extent, acerbic. Seeing as the date of this document was two months before the attack, we can confirm that there was a plan in mind before the ambush. After thoroughly reviewing this document, the text gives the impression that the U.S. wanted to put North Vietnam in their place. The corroboration of Documents 3 and 8 proves that there was a plan intended and achieved to trigger the start of the war. In Document 3, a conversation with Robert Anderson and President Johnson was recorded: “What happened was we’ve been playing around up there and they came out, gave us a warning, and we knocked the hell out of ‘em” (Document 3). This document, which was the day after the attack, corresponds with the conversation in Document 8, the two documents verify that the attack was both planned ahead of time and the provoking did indeed occur.
The war was triggered by the Vietnamese reacting to U.S. provocation. Sources claim that the U.S.S. Maddox was ambushed by the Vietnamese but from North Vietnam’s position, this act of defense seems to be completely justifiable. The commander of the Maddox, Captain Herrick, claims that there was an ambush: “Entire action leaves many doubts except for apparent ambush at beginning [...] details of action present a confusing picture although certain that the original ambush was bona fide” (Document 7). He provides evidence that the ambush was real but he was tentative to who and where the attack was coming from. Later in the document it is said that the reported ambush may have been the ships own propeller beat (Document 7). The statement from the captain refrains from accusing the Vietnamese because he is uncertain of himself as to whether the ship was actually being attacked. The source of this document was the commander of the Maddox which proves this document to be a primary source. This is a highly credible piece of evidence considering the fact that Captain Herrick was at the site of the event and was sending cables of what he witnessed. If there was an attack, from these sources we conclude that a mild ambush did take place in response to the United States provocation.
Controversy and confusion arose regarding The Gulf of Tonkin incident; a worldwide phenomenon in which the Vietnamese reportedly bombarded the U.S.S. Maddox. This occurrence increased tension between communism and capitalism. The tension culminated with President Johnson making the crucial decision to send over troops to challenge the growth of communism. The spread of communism was a perceived threat to the United States, who was desperate to put a stop to the chain of countries being converted to the communist regime; this was called the Domino Theory. The desperate measures of the U.S. may have lead to the provoking of Vietnam, which later lead to the war. Although the U.S. accuses North Vietnam of an unprovoked attack, multiple pieces of evidence point towards a provoked attack which forced North Vietnam to retaliate.
The United States proposed that the North Vietnamese violently attacked the U.S.S. Maddox in neutral waters without reasoning and the U.S responded immediately to the attack. Just five days after the attack, the Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed, allowing President Johnson to increase involvement in Vietnam without actually declaring war. As stated in the beginning of Document 1, which is a speech from President Johnson: “Whereas naval units of the Communist regime in Vietnam, in violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law, have deliberately and repeatedly attacked United States naval vessels lawfully present in international waters, and have thereby created a serious threat to international peace” (Document 1). This article advocates for the innocence of the U.S. and later on speaks to the point that the U.S. had no intention or political aspiration in Vietnam besides the assistance and protection of Southeast Asia (Document 1). The article avoided the fact that the U.S. was in the process of containing communism, by arming forces with South Vietnam. America took this as an opportunity to contain communism. History notes that the United States’ battle for the stop of Communism was in full force while they were in Vietnam, which proves Document 1 wrong, when it states that, ...“the United States is assisting the peoples of the Southeast Asia to protect their freedom and has no territorial, military or political ambitions in that area”(Document 1). Despite the fact that the U.S. states: “no territorial, military or political ambitions in that area” (Document 1), their actions speak differently than their words.
The United States seemed to be waiting for war to break out without being the aggressor. The U.S. irritated and subtly provoked the Vietnamese hoping for a reaction, in this way the U.S. would be justified to fight back. A telegram from the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State uncovers the malevolent plans of the U.S.: “We want a scream from them that they had been hit by something coming from our side. I would not object if they blamed us. They could prove nothing. We could either be totally silent, or challenge them to provide proof, or say we are looking in to it” (Document 8). This document, is to a certain extent, acerbic. Seeing as the date of this document was two months before the attack, we can confirm that there was a plan in mind before the ambush. After thoroughly reviewing this document, the text gives the impression that the U.S. wanted to put North Vietnam in their place. The corroboration of Documents 3 and 8 proves that there was a plan intended and achieved to trigger the start of the war. In Document 3, a conversation with Robert Anderson and President Johnson was recorded: “What happened was we’ve been playing around up there and they came out, gave us a warning, and we knocked the hell out of ‘em” (Document 3). This document, which was the day after the attack, corresponds with the conversation in Document 8, the two documents verify that the attack was both planned ahead of time and the provoking did indeed occur.
The war was triggered by the Vietnamese reacting to U.S. provocation. Sources claim that the U.S.S. Maddox was ambushed by the Vietnamese but from North Vietnam’s position, this act of defense seems to be completely justifiable. The commander of the Maddox, Captain Herrick, claims that there was an ambush: “Entire action leaves many doubts except for apparent ambush at beginning [...] details of action present a confusing picture although certain that the original ambush was bona fide” (Document 7). He provides evidence that the ambush was real but he was tentative to who and where the attack was coming from. Later in the document it is said that the reported ambush may have been the ships own propeller beat (Document 7). The statement from the captain refrains from accusing the Vietnamese because he is uncertain of himself as to whether the ship was actually being attacked. The source of this document was the commander of the Maddox which proves this document to be a primary source. This is a highly credible piece of evidence considering the fact that Captain Herrick was at the site of the event and was sending cables of what he witnessed. If there was an attack, from these sources we conclude that a mild ambush did take place in response to the United States provocation.