Monday, October 31, 2005

1964 Intelligence Coverup to Promote Vietnam War

NYTimes: "The Natl Security Agency has kept secret since 2001 a finding by an agency historian that during the Tonkin Gulf episode, which helped precipitate the Vietnam War, NSA officers deliberately distorted critical intelligence to cover up their mistakes and that midlevel agency officers had deliberately skewed the evidence. The historian's conclusion is the 1st serious accusation that communications intercepted were falsified so that they would look as if N Vietnam had attacked American destroyers on Aug 4, 1964, two days after a previous clash. Pres Johnson cited the supposed attack to persuade Congress to authorize broad military action in Vietnam, but most historians have concluded in recent yrs that there was no 2nd attack. The NSA historian, Robert Hanyok, concluded that they had deliberately skewed the evidence but that they had done it not out of any political motive but to cover up earlier errors, and that top NSA, defense officials and Johnson neither knew about nor condoned the deception." That may be so, but tell that to people who served in Vietnam, lost their lives, limbs, or lively hoods due to injuries, mental anguish , and Agent Orange.
Posted by Tina :: 12:01 AM :: 4 Comments:

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