LBJ ran with theTonkin Gulf fabrication and got us officially into Nam

[G_j]

because he wanted to counteract the Goldwater/Republican meme that he was 'weak on defense'.
(listening to NPR story)


Will the kneejerk reactions to "weak on defense" ever end?

I hate politics!
.... 3+ million Vietnamese dead and the 50+ thousand American dead
:-(
-------------
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/USA/GulfTonkin.html

<snip>
The entire event was purposely misconstrued when presented to Congress and the public by President Johnson and his administration, and on August 7, the "Tonkin Gulf Resolution" passed, 416 to 0 by the House and 88 to 2 by the Senate. The resolution stipulated that the President of the United States could "take all necessary measures to repel armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." <2>

This was what led to the escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam and became the point where the U.S. made a large commitment. By July of 1965, the U.S. would have 80,000 troops mobilized and operating in South Vietnam. This opened the door to the eventual peak of some 543,000 troops by early 1969, including the dropping of 400 tons of bombs and ordnance per day. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was a significant event in the fact that it opened the door to one of the most vivid and memorable wars in modern day history.

<snip>

[Warpy]

1. Weak on defense

Soft on crime.

Soft on drugs.

Socialism!!!!

People will seeimingly be manipulated by all these stupid things.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. The Jockstrap Wars.

LBJ vs Goldwater. Toughest on Communism jockstrap.

Kerry vs Bush. Toughest on "terrorism" jockstrap.

We have the world's mightiest and most expensive military, not by a little bit, but by many multiples. Both candidates promise to bolster the Pentagon with more troops, more equipment, more money. Nobody seems to want to ask why the already "best" military in the world needs more of everything...or, why the hyped up military can't defeat what they themselves describe as "remnants", "small groups of disgruntled Iraqis", "small groups of infiltrators", "small groups of ex-Baathists", etc.

This combined with the fact that Iraq had zip to do with 9/11, had no WMD, posed no threat to anyone, and would soon have fell apart without our "help", must make one wonder why all those Iraqis, and 900+ American GIs are dead.

[G_j]

3. still the same old "girlie-boy"

crap. Will we ever get over the macho posturing?

[Octafish]

4. Do you think JFK would've fallen for Tonkin Gulf Incident?

The War Party, to which LBJ answered, was gung-ho for war. I wonder if President Kennedy would have gone down their path to death. Somehow, after JFK refused to start World War III over the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis and had ordered the withdrawal of US troops from South Vietnam, I doubt it.

BTW: Death is the Bush family business. Here's an article that provides the details:

http://www.newtopiamagazine.net/content/issue12/features/bushempire.php

[G_j]

5. somehow I doubt it

At least I don't think he would have gone with the Tonkin deception.
I seriously doubt he would have been anxious to commit troops on the scale that LBJ did, but who knows?