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| US Vietnam intelligence 'flawed' | ||
| 2005-12-02 | ||
| Newly-released US documents suggest the US escalated the war in Vietnam based on skewed intelligence. The documents cast doubt on the existence of an attack on a US warship by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin on 4 August 1964. The incident prompted President Lyndon Johnson to ask Congress, in effect, to declare war on Vietnam. The revelations, released by the National Security Agency, were written by its own historian in 2001. Robert Hanyok declares his review of all the intelligence shows beyond doubt that "no attack happened that night". The USS Maddox had been attacked two days earlier. He claims errors were made in the translation of the intercepted signals from the North Vietnamese, and officials gave too much weight to flimsy evidence. But he clears President Johnson and his ministers of any blame. They were only shown intelligence supporting the claim of an attack, not a wealth of contradictory material, he says.
Three days later, President Johnson asked Congress to empower him to take "all necessary steps" in the region, opening the way for a war that resulted in the deaths of 58,000 Americans and three million Vietnamese. The US government is said to have fought the declassification of the documents over fears of comparisons with the handling of Iraq, says the BBC's defence and security correspondent Rob Watson.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #17 In the war of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans was fought AFTER the peace treaty (Treaty of Ghent) had been signed. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-12-02 22:49 |
| #16 Joe for UN Secretary General! SecGen Mendiola, that's what I'm talkin' about! Posted by: Seafarious 2005-12-02 21:29 can you JUST IMAGINE the translator confusion?? I'd pay-per-view to see that UN Session! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-12-02 22:43 |
| #15 I've changed my mind. Up 'til now I've supported the Joe2008 campaign, but now I find I can't. Joe, you must look higher. Greatness awaits you... Joe for UN Secretary General! SecGen Mendiola, that's what I'm talkin' about! |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-12-02 21:29 |
| #14 ...as honest injun as the US Marine Brigade wilfully and undeniably attacked and destroyed several innocent German divisions on RR near Belleau Wood,; as Davey Crockett bayonetted himself at the Alamo; and Colunbus secretly worked for the Ming Dynasty; ...@etc. Yep, America can't be trusted for anything, and we're all Asians and Commies anyways vv the US Ninth. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2005-12-02 21:19 |
| #13 Ima thinkr I dont given f*&k ifn you dont lik it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-12-02 19:37 |
| #12 haver u hurd thisn wone, Which doesn't belong, meat, wife, or blowjob? #8 Haven't you learned anything yet? This joke is not funny, sexist and offensive to women and vegetarians! |
| Posted by: Friend of Muck4doo 2005-12-02 17:51 |
| #11 Wasn't LBJ from Texas? Isn't Bush from Texas? There has to be a conspiracy in there somewhere. Texas has oil. Iraq has oil. Vietnam must have oil! Get 'em! |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2005-12-02 14:21 |
| #10 Tired, dear, think of Muckyspeak as the local Rantburg dialect. When, one day not long ago, the trailing daughters laughed about a Muckyspeak variant used by a poster at the site, I knew we'd truly become a Rantburg family. Or you can think of it as a subset of, as my brother the computer perfesser put it, "I type 120 words per minute, or 60 words per minute after I fix all the typos." ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-12-02 13:49 |
| #9 are journalists this stupid? |
| Posted by: Unetch Flinetch3868 2005-12-02 13:46 |
| #8 ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION |
| Posted by: Tired of Muck4dospeak! 2005-12-02 13:19 |
| #7 Holey Shjit! Stop the Pressers! Remember tho that the North Viet's had a known supply of whiz-bangs and used them to deadly effect on that bloody day in the Gulf of Tonkin. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-12-02 12:21 |
| #6 All intelligence is incomplete until the enemy files in his headquarters have been read through . So true. Immaculate intelligence. Just another shrill demand of perfection from the liberals that they don't require of themselves. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-12-02 12:14 |
| #5 *double shrug* Don't like flawed? then please pass the aged and perfected intelligence. Oh, there ain't any? Well then be glad you've at least got some intelligence, to include the flawed. It might enable you to move out with a 60 or 70 percent solution, which, when emplemented with enthusiasm and DETERMINATION, WILL MORE THAN LIKELY PRODUCE SUCCESS! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-12-02 11:41 |
| #4 *shrug* All intelligence is incomplete until the enemy files in his headquarters have been read through... That's why the analysts provide probability levels with their analyses. One does the best with the information he has at the time; if the enemy wants one to think differently about things, he need only admit the true situation and provide definitive proof. Intelligence isn't like rocket science, where the answers are absolute and calcuable. But we've learnt not to expect clear thinking from the "journalists" at the BBC. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-12-02 11:34 |
| #3 Maybe if they looked into ALL the intell people would know exactly why he started the war.He owned or owned stock in three of largest companies building stock for wartime. Time to push up profits!! That's why he wacked JFK!! |
| Posted by: ARMYGUY 2005-12-02 10:51 |
| #2 The USS Maddox had been attacked two days earlier. Doesn't leave much room for disagreement. Too bad Johnson was interested in the War on Poverty than a real one. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-12-02 10:29 |
| #1 Quagmire! Withdraw now! |
| Posted by: Clolump Whaque5820 2005-12-02 10:26 |