With only two dissenting votes in the entire Senate and House, the Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on August 7, 1964 — clearing the path to escalate the war in Vietnam. Passage of the measure came after the Johnson administration falsely claimed that U.S. vessels in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam had been subjected to unprovoked attacks from North Vietnamese boats on August 2 and August 4.

Parallels between the Tonkin claims and the Bush administration’s false claims that enabled the invasion of Iraq are explored with archival footage in the new documentary War Made Easy. That segment of the film can be seen here.

For a transcript of the documentary and other background material, go to warmadeeasythemovie.org.

War Made Easy — subtitled “How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death” — is based on the book of the same name by Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. The film was produced by the Media Education Foundation.