Research topic:Gulf of Tonkin

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Tonkin Gulf Resolution

A Dictionary of Contemporary World History | 2004 | | © A Dictionary of Contemporary World History 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Tonkin Gulf Resolution (7 Aug. 1964) A resolution of the US Congress approving ‘retaliatory’ air raids on North Vietnamese targets and giving President Johnson authority to ‘take all necessary steps including the use of armed forces’ to help members of SEATO to ‘defend their freedom’. It was passed in response to alleged attacks on 2 and 4 August by North Vietnamese patrol boats against the US destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. Subsequent investigation revealed that the intelligence information on which it was based was inaccurate, and may have been contrived by elements within the US government. Nevertheless, it was effectively a blank cheque for Johnson's policies in Vietnam, and thus enabled the start of active US military involvement in the Vietnam War through retaliatory bombing raids of North Vietnamese cities. Reaction against this mistake by Congress led to the War Powers Act of 1973.

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JAN PALMOWSKI. "Tonkin Gulf Resolution." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 30 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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