Although the Tonkin incident was considered “unprovoked” by American arguments, evidence shows that Vietnamese fishing boats were harassed by American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Evidence is provided by many documents proving this point.
Even though the U.S destroyers were in the territorial waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, there was no need for them to be attacked by the Vietcong. Vietnamese officials could have told the destroyers to leave before attacking, or even just asked why the Americans were there in the first place, to help solve the problem nonviolently.Yet, if a nation was in a situation where a more powerful nation than the less powerful one was pressuring it by showing its muscles right next to where the nation was placed, it would probably not react so kindly. It is possible the U.S military was trying to strike fear into the minds and hearts of the vietnamese people. Like a way of warning them not to embrace communism.