UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident
August 6, 1964

The acts of aggression by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin make no sense whatsoever standing alone. They defy rational explanation except as part of a larger pattern with a larger purpose. In Southeast Asia we want nothing more and nothing less than the assured and guaranteed independence of the peoples of that area. We are in Southeast Asia to help our friends preserve their own opportunity to be free of imported terror, of alien assassination managed by the North Vietnam communists based in Hanoi and backed by the Chinese communists from Peking.

There is a very easy way to restore order in Southeast Asia. Stop the export of revolution that has taken place in that area. When the peace agreements reached long ago are made affective peace will return to Southeast Asia and military power can be withdrawn.