8. Fact: The United States moved in January 1965 to contain China
According to the Pentagon Papers, in January and February of 1965, while Lyndon Johnson was informing the American people that he did not intend to send American combat troops to Vietnam, preparations were under way to deploy American troops. An increase in bombing missions began, according to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, not to help South Vietnam but to contain China. In February a base at Pleiku which housed American military advisors was attacked by the Viet Cong, and in response Johnson ordered the implementation of Operation Rolling Thunder, the long-term sustained aerial bombardment of targets in North Vietnam and supply routes in Laos and Cambodia.
