How Did Congress Lose The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War, a war that costed thousands upon thousands of lives, but could we have avoided it all? Could this bloody war have never happened? Congress was wrong in approving the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, for without it millions of lives would have been saved.
The Constitution addresses declaring and waging war by saying, “Congress shall of the power to declare war”. The constitution gives the right to declare war to Congress, so the President is not allowed to declare war unless Congress allows for war to be declared. Therefor it was congress who initiated the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The conflict in Vietnam was merely a conflict between North Vietnam with the help of China and Russia, and South Vietnam with the help of U.S military advisors. It wasn’t until August of 1964 when the alleged attack on U.S navy vessel USS Maddox by North Vietnam torpedo boats, that Congress declared war on North Vietnam, which escaladed the war. Whenever LBJ entered office Americas role in Vietnam changed, he talked about how “the battle against communism must be joined in Southeast Asia with …show more content…
The U.S government reported that the USS Maddox was attacked first and that they attacked back out of retaliation, but what was strange is that the ship was also reported to have no damage. In actuality the USS Maddox attacked the North Viatnamese ship first. Two days later the USS Maddox saw two blips on their radar, they sent a transmission to the naval base in Honolulu saying that “they were being attacked”, they then sent it to Washington. The president then says “We cannot sit still as a nation and let them attack us on the high seas and get away with it”. A year later marines landed on the shores of Vietnam. This alleged attack on the USS Maddox gave Johnson the thing he needed to start war with Vietnam. Killing millions of Vietnam citizens based on a false
The Constitution addresses declaring and waging war by saying, “Congress shall of the power to declare war”. The constitution gives the right to declare war to Congress, so the President is not allowed to declare war unless Congress allows for war to be declared. Therefor it was congress who initiated the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The conflict in Vietnam was merely a conflict between North Vietnam with the help of China and Russia, and South Vietnam with the help of U.S military advisors. It wasn’t until August of 1964 when the alleged attack on U.S navy vessel USS Maddox by North Vietnam torpedo boats, that Congress declared war on North Vietnam, which escaladed the war. Whenever LBJ entered office Americas role in Vietnam changed, he talked about how “the battle against communism must be joined in Southeast Asia with …show more content…
The U.S government reported that the USS Maddox was attacked first and that they attacked back out of retaliation, but what was strange is that the ship was also reported to have no damage. In actuality the USS Maddox attacked the North Viatnamese ship first. Two days later the USS Maddox saw two blips on their radar, they sent a transmission to the naval base in Honolulu saying that “they were being attacked”, they then sent it to Washington. The president then says “We cannot sit still as a nation and let them attack us on the high seas and get away with it”. A year later marines landed on the shores of Vietnam. This alleged attack on the USS Maddox gave Johnson the thing he needed to start war with Vietnam. Killing millions of Vietnam citizens based on a false