Vietnam War Conspiracy
By: Landon Vaughn
The Start
On August 2, 1964 an American ship was presumably attacked by a Vietnamese ship. It was on this day that started the United States involvement in the Vietnam war.
Media Portrayal
The media had two sides of this story. One was that it was government influence to cause the U.S. to get involved in the war. The other is that the North Vietnamese actually did attack for unknown reasons.
Biases
The type of bias that you see continually throughout stories of the Gulf Of Tonkin would be bias of source selection. It is because each story/article that you read about the attack has different sources depending on which side of the argument the author is taking. They use this bias to make their point seem stronger than the other and try to use it to persuade the audience to see it in their way.
Personal Opinion
My opinion is that this event never happened. The government made it up so we could get involved in war to help stop the spread of communism.
Criticisms
The type of criticism that I notice throughout the Gulf of Tonkin stories is historical. It is historical because you see stories over the attack story seems to have a different idea as to how the attack was done. People today still don't know exactly what happened that day.
Sources
"Lyndon Johnson - Report on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 6 May 2015.
"Gulf of Tonkin: McNamara Admits It Didn't Happen." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 6 May 2015 Gulf of Tonkin Incident: Reappraisal 40 Years Later."
History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online Gulf of Tonkin Incident Reappraisal 40 Years Later Comments. Web. 6 May 2015.
Vietnam English Project