Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War

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On August 4, 1964, U.S. Navy destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy reported an attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. President Lyndon Johnson quickly ordered airstrikes against North Vietnam, leading to Congress passing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution on August 7, granting him authority to take "all necessary measures" to prevent further aggression. Initially, crew members believed they were under attack, but subsequent analysis suggests that radar images of torpedo boats may have been false, caused by weather, birds, or American planes. Edwin Moise's thorough reconstruction reveals that no North Vietnamese attack occurred, attributing the report to a genuine mistake rather than a deliberate deception. He contextualizes this error by recounting an actual battle involving the Maddox just two days earlier and highlights the contradictory U.S. policy of the time. While Johnson's advisors were planning to escalate the conflict, he simultaneously cut the military budget, reflecting the complexities of American involvement in Vietnam during 1964.