11. The Pentagon Papers revealed plans for American escalation of the war before the Gulf of Tonkin incident
Prior to the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which led to President Johnson obtaining authorization to prosecute the war in Southeast Asia, plans were presented to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson on how to escalate American involvement. They included bombing raids targeting Viet Cong supply centers and depots, ground assaults by ARVN units on targets in North Vietnam, supported by American advisors, and air strikes on North Vietnam using unmarked aircraft, flown by “non-US aircrews”. At the same time, the President was being urged to escalate activity by the CIA, other advisors were warning that the ARVN was not ready for major operations, and the new government did not have the support of the South Vietnamese people.
The Pentagon Papers revealed that the naval patrols which were allegedly attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which was actually two separate incidents, were deliberate provocations by the United States in the hope of inciting a major response from the North Vietnamese. In September 1964, National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy (who had served under Kennedy) warned President Johnson that such provocations should be curtailed until such time that the South Vietnamese government was prepared to withstand a major assault from the North.