Download Transcript of Tonkin Gulf Resolution (1964)

Introduction
The Vietnam War was fought between North
Vietnam (supported by the Soviet Union, China
and other communist allies) and the government
of South Vietnam (supported by the United States
and other anti-communist allies).
The Viet Cong (also known as the National
Liberation Front, or NLF), a lightly armed South
Vietnamese communist front directed by the
North, fought a guerrilla war against anticommunist forces in the region.
The People's Army of Vietnam (a.k.a. the North
Vietnamese Army) engaged in a
more conventional war, at times committing large
units into battle. As the war wore on, the part of
the Viet Cong in the fighting decreased as the role
of the NVA grew.
U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air
superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery,
and airstrikes. In the course of the war, the U.S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North
Vietnam, and over time the North Vietnamese airspace became the most heavily defended airspace of any in the
world.
The U.S. government viewed American involvement in the war as a way to prevent a Communist takeover of South
Vietnam. This was part of a wider containment strategy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism.
According to the U.S. domino theory, if one state went Communist, other states in the region would follow and U.S.
policy thus held that accepting the spread of Communist rule across all of Vietnam was unacceptable. The North
Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam under communist rule. They viewed the
conflict as a colonial war, fought initially against forces from France and then America, as France was backed by the
U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state.
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident is the name given to two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and
the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. On August 2, 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox engaged three
North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats. A sea battle resulted. One US aircraft was damaged, three North Vietnamese
torpedo boats were damaged, and four North Vietnamese sailors were killed and six were wounded; there were no
U.S. casualties.
It was originally claimed by the National Security Agency that the second Tonkin Gulf incident occurred on August
4, 1964, as another sea battle, but instead may have involved "Tonkin Ghosts" (false radar images) and not actual
NVN torpedo boat attacks.
The outcome of these two incidents was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted
President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered
to be jeopardized by "communist aggression." The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying
U.S. conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam.
Transcript of Tonkin Gulf Resolution
(1964)
Eighty-eighth Congress of the United
States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on
Tuesday, the seventh day of January, one
thousand nine hundred and sixty-four
Joint Resolution
To promote the maintenance of international
peace and security in southeast Asia.
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
Stated naval vessels lawfully present in
international waters, and have thereby created
a serious threat to international peace; and
Whereas these attackers are part of deliberate
and systematic campaign of aggression that
the Communist regime in North Vietnam has
been
waging
against States
its neighbors
and the peoples of southeast Asia to protest their freedom and has no territorial, military or
Whereas
the United
is assisting
nations
with in
them
the collective
politicaljoined
ambitions
thatinarea,
but desires only that these people should be left in peace to work out their destinies in their own
defense
of their
freedom;
way: Now,
therefore
be itand
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Congress
approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any
armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.
Section 2. The United States regards as vital to its national interest and to world peace the maintenance of international peace
and security in southeast Asia. Consonant with the Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United Nations and
in accordance with its obligations under the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, the United States is, therefore, prepared,
as the President determines, to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state
of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom.
Section 3. This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of the area is reasonably
assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier
by concurrent resolution of the Congress.
Escalation in Vietnam
Operation Rolling Thunder
The United States conducted these bombing
raids on North Vietnam. They happened on a
near continuous basis for three years. In 1965
there were 25,000 bombing raids, escalating to
108,000 bombing raids in 1967. By 1967 the
United States had dropped more bombs on
Vietnam than the Allies had dropped during
all of WWII.
War in the Jungle
The United States used the Search and Destroy
method to find opposition forces. The
Vietcong (VC) used hit-and-run and ambush
style tactics which utilized their knowledge of
the jungle terrain. The VC were also able to
blend into the general population and attack in
cities and the countryside. In addition, the VC
used booby traps and landmines.
Vietcong Tunnels
The Vietcong had created an elaborate system
of tunnels that allowed them to launch surprise
attacks on American soldiers and then
disappear quickly. They began building these
tunnels during French occupation and
increased their tunnel systems once the US
began Operation Rolling Thunder. There were
more than 30,000 miles of tunnels throughout
Vietnam and they were often connected to
villages which became home to guerilla
fighters. Inside the tunnels they would sleep,
store weapons, build landmines and tend to
their wounded.
Tactics
In an attempt to find VC tunnels and uncover the Ho Chi Minh trail, the US
dropped napalm to set fire to the jungle. In addition, napalm was used in
flamethrowers for US and South Vietnamese ground forces. It was quickly learned
that using these flamethrowers could consume all of the oxygen in a bunker which
resulted in the death of those hiding in the bunker.
Agent Orange was a powerful herbicide and defoliant that was sprayed in the
jungles of Vietnam. The purpose of Agent Orange was to kills the leaves and
foliage, allowing the US to better identify where the tunnels and bunkers were
located. Nearly 13 million gallons of Agent Orange was used during the war and it
lefts many villages in ruins. (The top photo shows the Mangrove forest before
1965, the bottom photo shows the same forest after the spraying of Agent Orange.)
In addition to napalm and Agent Orange, the US military conducted Search and
Destroy missions that rooted out suspected VC soldiers, in the process many
villagers were uprooted and villages were burned and livestock was killed.
Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was not just one
trail but a series of trails, named after North
Vietnamese leader, Ho Chi Minh. The Trail
was used by the North Vietnamese as a
route for its troops to get into the South.
They also used the trail as a supply route –
for weapons, food and equipment. The Ho
Chi Minh Trail ran along the
Laos/Cambodia and Vietnam borders and
was dominated by jungles. In total the
‘trail’ was about 600 miles in length and
consisted of many parts.
The ‘trail’ consisted of dummy routes that
served the only purpose of confusing
the Americans but was, in places, 50 miles
wide. It is thought that up to 40,000 people
were used to keep the route open. The
natural environment gave the trail excellent
cover as the jungle could provide as much
as three canopies of tree cover, which
disguised what was going on at ground
level. The American response to this was to
use defoliants – the most famous
being Agent Orange – to kill off the
greenery that gave cover to those using the
trail. However, while large areas of jungle
were effectively killed off, the task was too
great and the Ho Chi Minh Trail was used
for the duration of the war against the
Americans in South Vietnam.
One way for the Americans to counter the
Ho Chi Minh Trail was to build large bases
near to it – Khe Sanh was one of these.
From these large bases patrols were sent
out in an effort to intercept anyone using
the route. Regardless of this, it does seem
that the task was simply too great for the Americans. Whereas the trail was based on deception and fluidity, the
military bases built by the US were static. Therefore, once patrols left these bases they were by themselves. While
they could be supported by air, there would always be a time delay between combat on the ground and the arrival of
air support. By the very nature of guerrilla warfare, this gave the North Vietnamese the advantage as they had the
ability to disappear into the jungle.