“To justify the American intervention by portraying the Vietnamese conflict as an attack by North Vietnam against South Vietnam rather than as a civil war, his (Jyndon B. Johnson’s) administration went as far as having the CIA create elaborate fake evidence of large-scale shipments of arms from the north to the south.”

-Joshua Freeman, Pg. 232

The falsification of intelligence information is an example of how our government believed it needed to instill fear and anxiety in American citizens to receive positive reinforcement for the Vietnam War. With tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union at its peak during the 1960’s, any fuel that could be thrown in to feed support of military involvement would likely garner more support against the communist regime. Having the CIA falsify information to scare people and deceive their perception of the war’s success and agenda is of course wrong, and did not prove to be a successful tactic. It simply tacked on to the civil disobedience present in our country. Joshua Freeman likely thought it was important to remind the American people of the type of manipulation the American government is capable of to try and gain support for its own interests, and not necessarily of its citizens.