从“34A行动”到“东京湾决议”——论越南战争扩大的由来

THE CAUSE OF THE ESCALATION OF VIETNAM WAR

1963年底肯尼迪遇刺身亡时,美国在南越的军事介入已发展到用万余名辅助部队和军事顾问直接参战的地步。但是,这同16个月后美国开始持续轰炸北越,并且将数十万地面战斗部队陆续派往南越相比,无论从干涉的规模和介入的深度来说,仍是相当有限的。其间战争扩大的根本原因,在于继任总统约翰逊为扭转迅速恶化的军事形势,确定了“攻击北越,拯救南越”的原则。这个原则的实施,经过了强化秘密战、酝酿轰炸北越和拟订其计划、制造“东京湾事件”和通过“东京湾决议”等几个阶段。到1964年秋天,约翰逊政府已经基本完成了扩大战争的准备,而对北越的首次公开武装进攻亦已载入史册。

The root cause of Vietnam War escalation lay in President Johnson's policy of 'attacking North Vietnam and saving South Vietnam' to reverse the rapidly worsening military situation. The policy was implemented through four stages: intensifying clandestine warfare, deliberating and working on the plan to bomb North Vietnam, creating the Gulf of Tokin incident and adopting the Gulf of Tonkin resolution in Congress.