39 Years Ago Today, A Resolution Was Passed By Congress...

[Hissyspit]

On Aug. 7, 1964, Congress passed the so-called Gulf of Tonkin resolution, giving President Lyndon Johnson broad, open-ended, basically 'carte blanche' authority to expand responses, including military action, to North Vietnam, changing the U.S. role from advisor to South Vietnam to owner of the war.

Sen. Robert Byrd (D - W.Va) on Oct. 4, 2002 in debate in the Senate:
"Let's go back to the war in Vietnam. I was here. I was one of the Senators who voted for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. Yes, I voted for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. I am sorry for that. I am guilty of doing that. I should have been one of the two, or at least I should have made it three, Senators who voted against that Gulf of Tonkin resolution. But I am not wanting to commit that sin twice, and that is exactly what we are doing here. This is another Gulf of Tonkin resolution."

Sen. Wayne Morse (D - Oregon), one of only two dissenters in Congress (both Democrats) to the Vietnam resolution, speaking about it at the time in 1964:
"But one thing I do know, and that is we're going to be BOGGED down in Southeast Asia for years to come if we follow this course of action, and we're gonna kill thousands of Americans boys until FINALLY, let me say, the American people are gonna say what the French people finally said: They've had enough."

You can find transcripts of the Joint Resolution of Congress authorizing increased military action in Vietnam and Johnson's statement to Congress about Vietnam here: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/tonkin-g.htm

Here is the transcript of the Oct. 10, 2002 Joint Resolution of Congress authorizing military action in Iraq: http://www.yourcongress.com/ViewArticle.asp?article_id=2686

Click here for Walter Cronkite's Aug. 2, 2004 analysis of the incident for NPR and hear audio transcripts of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and President Johnson devising a plan to set the bait, trying to draw an attack by the North Vietnamese, an attack's report which resulted in the resolution from Congress, an attack which likely did not take place:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3810724
Defense Secretary McNAMARA: "This ship allegedly TO BE ATTACKED TONIGHT," not 'could' be attacked tonight.

[lumpy]

1. Wayne Morris senator extraordinary.

Sen. Wayne Morse (D - Oregon), one of only two dissenters in Congress (both Democrats) to the Vietnam resolution, speaking about it at the time in 1964:
"But one thing I do know, and that is we're going to be BOGGED down in Southeast Asia for years to come if we follow this course of action, and we're gonna kill thousands of Americans boys until FINALLY, let me say, the American people are gonna say what the French people finally said: They've had enough."

Morrises words ring true today. Could be applied to the current quagmire in Iraq.