Report reveals Gulf of Tonkin incident never occurred

The 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident, in which two American destroyers were attacked by North Vietnamese forces, was the catalyst for the United States' invasion of Vietnam. President Lyndon Johnson used the attack to convince Congress to give him approval for the war. For years, people have speculated that the incident never occurred. Turns out, they were right: in a report released by the NSA, it is revealed that "no attack happened that night."

The "most historically significant feature" of the declassified report was the retelling of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident.

That was a reported North Vietnamese attack on American destroyers that helped lead to president Lyndon Johnson's sharp escalation of American forces in Vietnam.

The author of the report "demonstrates that not only is it not true, as (then US) secretary of defense Robert McNamara told Congress, that the evidence of an attack was 'unimpeachable,' but that to the contrary, a review of the classified signals intelligence proves that 'no attack happened that night,'" FAS said in a statement.

"What this study demonstrated is that the available intelligence shows that there was no attack. It's a dramatic reversal of the historical record," Aftergood said.

It's troubling that our most damaging war was fought under completely false pretenses. The Christian Science Monitor doesn't blame LBJ, though: They say that the president was misled by their intelligence agencies.

--Wyndam

McCain lays the smackdown on Hillary

From Lexington's column in this week's Economist:

"John McCain, who spent that late 1960s as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, has chided Hillary Clinton for earmarking one million dollars for a Woodstock concert museum ("I wasn't there...I was tied up at the time")."

I don't know how we missed it, but that's just about one of the greatest political put-downs I've heard in my lifetime, and certainly on par with the wit of many of Winston Churchill's digs. How do you come back from that?

Thanks to Mike for the heads up.

--Wyndam

A soldier writes of his death

I wanted to share a magnificent piece by Andrew Olmsted, a soldier who was killed a few days ago in Iraq. It is his last piece before his death, and it reflects on his time as a soldier, writer, family man and more. He felt that he was about to be in severe danger, and asked that this piece be posted in case he died. It is touching, tear-jerking and enlightening. Take a few minutes and give it a look.

Here is the piece, and the introduction by Obsidian Wings:

Andrew Olmsted... was killed yesterday in Iraq. Andy gave me a post to publish in the event of his death; the last revisions to it were made in July.

Andy was a wonderful person: decent, honorable, generous, principled, courageous, sweet, and very funny. The world has a horrible hole in it that nothing can fill. I'm glad Andy -- generous as always -- wrote something for me to publish now, since I have no words at all. Beyond: Andy, I will miss you.

My thoughts are with his wife, his parents, and his brother and sister.

And a similar introduction by the NRO Corner:

Andrew Olmsted. I doubt most readers of The Corner—and indeed most writers here as well—were regular readers of his blog, but he was one of the best. Careful, reliable, passionate. He left a "last blog" in the event he was killed—in an ambush, it seems, not one of the two ways he expected (sniper or IED)—and it's got a lot of good thinking in it. Take a few minutes off and read it, you'll learn a lot about the way our soldiers face life and death.

--Wyndam

This New Year, Thank the Troops!

Check out this site, which allows you to send a holiday card to a soldier.

It takes no time at all, and I encourage all to do it. Help our troops bring in the new year with a smile.

Thanks to the Corner over at the National Review Online for the link.

--Wyndam

Go on, Ask Bill!

More fun with videos!

Governor Richardson has a neat part of his site where he directly answers questions sent in by the public. It is called "Ask Bill." His responses are concise (about one to three minutes long), but remain insightful.

Here's a game: compare our videos on Richardson's stances with Richardson's own:
The governor discusses health care here, and issues we have yet to touch on fully, but he does discuss the "Heroes Health Card" and other veteran bonuses, which we talked about here.

And in this clip, he discusses equal rights and domestic partnerships for homosexuals. We elaborated on LGBT rights in this video.

Finally, Bill Richardson touches on two issues in this clip, energy initiatives and foreign relations. We discuss his energy policy here. He also skims over the need to focus on Africa (we talk about that here), build coalitions through respectful diplomacy (in the middle of this video, after my rant), and throughout, he displays some of his vision for the presidency (discussed further, by us, here).

Have an issue you care about? Send in your own questions to Ask Bill!

Fun game part two: identify the books on Richardson's shelves. So far, I can only make out "My Life" by Bill Clinton--it's well known that Governor Richardson is a big fan of the former president, and vice versa. If you recognize any others, add them to the comments below. It'd be interesting to know what's on that shelf--you have to believe they've been strategically placed. And as a diehard Yankee fan, I'm trying my best to look past the Red Sox hat...

--Wyndam

On Veterans' Affairs...

Soldiers go off to war zones around the world to fight for our country and our freedom. They risk their lives for us everyday, and ask little in return. Yet when they come home, there are few initiatives in place to help and thank them. It's time to right this wrong and give something back to these brave men and women. Bill Richardson has a detailed outline for how to do just that, which includes better health care, and a new G.I. Bill.

In this clip, Wyndam and Alex discuss the intricacies of this plan, and why it is necessary.

On Darfur...

The genocide in Darfur has killed close to 500,000 people. 2.5 million more are now refugees. This massive violation of human rights must be stopped, and the only candidate with a cohesive plan to do so is Bill Richardson. There are a lot of factors at work here--The U.S. must not only deal with Sudan, but the U.N., A.U. and China, amongst other, as well. Only someone with immense diplomatic experience will be able to navigate such tough international politics. Bill Richardson is, again, the one candidate with the qualifications and strategy needed to instrument change in the area.

Wyndam and Alex explore his proposed tactics and past successes in regards to human rights issues in this video.