United States claimed operations were in international waters

E541842

foreign policy justification government statement legal claim

The phrase refers to the U.S. government’s assertion during the Vietnam War that its DESOTO naval patrol missions took place outside any nation’s territorial waters, in areas considered part of the high seas under international law.

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Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	foreign policy justification ⓘ government statement ⓘ legal claim ⓘ
appliesTo	DESOTO patrols NERFINISHED ⓘ U.S. naval patrol missions off the coast of North Vietnam ⓘ
assertedBy	Lyndon B. Johnson administration NERFINISHED ⓘ U.S. Department of Defense NERFINISHED ⓘ U.S. Navy NERFINISHED ⓘ United States government NERFINISHED ⓘ
characterizedAs	element of U.S. narrative about unprovoked attacks ⓘ public justification for U.S. naval actions ⓘ
concerns	location of U.S. naval vessels relative to territorial seas ⓘ
concernsConcept	12-nautical-mile territorial sea claims ⓘ 3-nautical-mile territorial sea standard ⓘ territorial waters limit ⓘ
contextOf	debates over U.S. compliance with international maritime law ⓘ debates over provocation in the Gulf of Tonkin ⓘ
disputedAspect	exact distance of U.S. ships from North Vietnamese coast ⓘ
disputedBy	North Vietnam NERFINISHED ⓘ critics of U.S. Vietnam War policy ⓘ
domain	U.S. foreign policy ⓘ international law ⓘ military history ⓘ
geographicContext	Gulf of Tonkin NERFINISHED ⓘ waters off the coast of North Vietnam ⓘ
hasConsequence	strengthened U.S. claim that attacks were unprovoked ⓘ supported congressional approval of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution ⓘ
historicalInterpretation	later scholarship questioned accuracy of location claims ⓘ seen as part of escalation narrative leading to large-scale U.S. involvement in Vietnam ⓘ
involvesVessel	USS Maddox NERFINISHED ⓘ USS Turner Joy NERFINISHED ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
legalBasisClaimed	freedom of navigation ⓘ high seas under international law ⓘ
linkedTo	covert U.S.-supported South Vietnamese maritime operations ⓘ signals intelligence collection against North Vietnam ⓘ
medium	official U.S. government briefings ⓘ presidential addresses on the Gulf of Tonkin ⓘ
refersTo	U.S. government assertion about DESOTO patrol locations ⓘ
relatedEvent	August 2, 1964 Gulf of Tonkin engagement NERFINISHED ⓘ Gulf of Tonkin incident NERFINISHED ⓘ alleged August 4, 1964 Gulf of Tonkin attack ⓘ
relatedToDocument	Gulf of Tonkin Resolution NERFINISHED ⓘ
timePeriod	Vietnam War NERFINISHED ⓘ
usedToJustify	U.S. right of self-defense after alleged attacks ⓘ legality of U.S. naval presence off North Vietnam ⓘ

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

DESOTO patrol → legalStatusClaimedBy → United States claimed operations were in international waters ⓘ