False Intellegence and the Rush to War: Then and Now

37 years ago I was in Vietnam. I was in the US Army, stationed in a place called Phu Loi. It was 1969, I was 19 years old, and the war was all around me. I was 13 when JFK was killed, 14 when LBJ was elected, and 15 when the first combat troops were sent to Vietnam to wage war. (American troops in Vietnam, sent in by Kennedy in 1962, were considered only as advisers prior to 1965). I was 23 years old when the last American troops limped home without victory.

American casualties by wars' end numbered 58,226 killed or missing in action and 153,303 wounded. Vietnamese casualties numbered between 3 and 5 million, most of those were civilians. The war was said to have lasted for 10,000 days. For many it lasted much longer than that and, for some, it will last forever.

But this blog today isn't about Vietnam. It is about the lies that take us into war. On the 4th of August, 1964, it was reported that the North Vietnamese had fired upon American war ships in international waters. This was seen to be an overt act of war against the United States. A bill called the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed that allowed the president to conduct war without the necessity for Congress to issue a formal declaration. The president was given power beyond the constraints of the Constitution to wage unlimited warfare at his discretion. But all this was done on the strength of misleading information. It was reported in 2005 that the NSA had deliberately distorted intellegence reports passed on to policy makers concerning the Aug 4th incident. American ships were not fired upon that day.

Years later, Robert McNamara (Secretary of Defense 1961-68) recalled the incident in his book The Fog of War. The following video, in which McNamara recalls the events, illustrates the lack of intellegence and judgement, and the rush to war.



Almost 40 years later another presentation of false intellegence and yet another demonstration of lack of judgement preceeded another rush to war. This more recent fiasco has also allowed another president to assume more powers than the Constitution allows. Not only is he able to wage war, he can also disregard international laws and treaties, suspend civil liberties of Americans, and incarcerate without charge or trial anyone he wishes...and engage in torture. All this power he has usurped and exploited in order to "defend" Americans.

The administration lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction, Iraqi ties with Al Qaeda, and the imminent threat that America faced from Saddam Hussein.




How many children, who are just entering their teens today, will be fighting in Iraq, or somewhere else that the president determines poses an imminent threat, in five or ten years time? Are we in for another 10,000 day war...or perhaps even longer?

Why does Congress find it so easy to roll over and allow presidents to assume, and keep, power that they should never be allowed?

As Bob Dylan one said: The answer my friend is blowing in the wind.