Things we thought all along

The NY Times, that bastion of liberalism, has an article today detailing the still classified research of historian Robert J. Hayok, in which he concludes that the crucial Tonkin Gulf episode was a sham. For those who've forgotten grade 12 history, the Tonkin Gulf episode consisted of an alleged attack by a (North) Vietnamese destroyer (gunboat?, paddlewheel?) on an American ship on August 4th 1964, two days after a previous clash. This was believed to be a clear sign of 'escalation' on the part of the Vietnamese, and President Johnson cited the attack as justification for his request to Congress for authorization of "broad military action in Vietnam." In a recent interview, the then Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, says, according to the Times, "that the intelligence reports [...] played a decisive role in the war's expansion. Historians have long suspected that the incident didn't really happen, but none before Mr Hayok has had access to the N.S.A (National Security Agency, aka the really creepy spooks) archives. The Times reports that he reached his conclusion based on the differences between official N.S.A. reports and intercepts from N.S.A. listening posts in South Vietnam and the Philippines. It appears that mid-level N.S.A. operatives mistranslated the intercepts, and though they soon noticed their errors, they then systematically mistranslated the intercepts to cover up their initial mistakes. Hayok further concludes that it is doubful that any high-level folks at the N.S.A, or in other parts of government (the White House) new about the mistake and subsequent coverup. Johnson is reported to have had doubts about the episode from the get go, but alas. Hayok's research, entitled "Spartans in Darkness", was 'published' in an internal NSA 'journal' about five years ago. The Times reports that the agency was planning to release the report until it became evident that some of the intelligence justifying the invasion of Iraq had been falsified. No one, except us pussy-footed, pansie-assed liberal blow-hards, wants to have that sort of déja-vu. We need unity in the face of adversity; ignorance in the face of propaganda.

According to the times, the N.S.A is planning to release the report, and to also declassify the pertinent primary evidence, in the near future. This will be interesting to see. One has to wonder about the bias of a historian employed by the N.S.A, but I know nothing about Hayok's other work. Further, I imagine that the US Armed Forces and some of the associated intelligence services are probably quite interested in internal criticism, at least within certain constraints. It can only make them stronger. As much as us liberal softies like to joke about the boys and their toys, the US officer corps is actually a very smart bunch on the whole.