Volume 10, Number 6 · March 28, 1968
McNamara and Tonkin Bay: The Unanswered Questions
By I.F. Stone
The Gulf of Tonkin, The 1964 Incidents Senate, Ninetieth Congress, Second Session with the Honorable Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense, on February 20, 1968 (released February 24, 1968)
Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States
US Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C., 30 cents
The big surprise at the new Tonkin Gulf hearing held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was the attitude of Secretary McNamara. Chairman Fulbright greeted him with affection and respect. 'I for one,' Fulbright said, 'regret to see you leave the Government at this very perilous time in our history.' The Committee's mood was nostalgic. Even Morse, McNamara's sharpest interrogator, called him 'one of the most dedicated public servants I have experienced in my twenty-eight years in the Senate.' Fulbright assured the Secretary that in seeking to establish the truth about the Tonkin Gulf incidents of August 2 and 4, 1964, 'the purpose is not to assess blame on anyone, certainly not upon you.' It was 'simply to review the decision-making processes of our Government in time of crisis.'
Review, 4893 words
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