OzOne wrote:

On 8 Nov 2004 17:51:11 -0600, Dave scribbled
thusly:


On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 09:19:45 +1100, OzOne said:


Here's a man who doesn't know his history.


Yep, Dave, you apparently don't have any clue!

So, Oz, you also think Johnson started the Vietnam war?


Nope, AFAIK Johnson DID start the war.

Kennedy had about 16,000 military advisors in Vietnam when he was
assasinated.
Johnson ordered a retaliatory attack after torpedo boats attacked the
Ticonderoga, and two other US vessels, the names of which escape me
atm, while they were providing radar tracking for Sth Viet forces and
on station in the Tonkin.
The war progressed rapidly from that point in August '64.

There were actually some secret bombing raids under Pres Johnson prior
to that, flown by US military pilots in old US aircraft, but these did
not amount to a commitment to war.

That didn't come until Jan '65 then Feb '65 when the US launched its
first bombing strikes but without any official declaration of war.
IIRC Johnson said something like "I've had enough of this crap" before
ordering the attack.

Oz, the US doesn't declare war on other countries. It just invades or
topples their government. Now, what did happen to Chile's elected
government in September...?

Cheers