On the same day , the Viet Cong bombed the Brinks Hotel , where US officers was billeted , killing two Americans and injuring around 50 people , civilian bystanders and military personnel . As a result , there was a suspicion among a minority that Khánh 's junta had been behind the attack , even though the Viet Cong had claimed responsibility through a radio broadcast . When the Americans started making plans to retaliate against North Vietnam , they did not tell Khánh and his junta . Westmoreland , Taylor , and other senior US officers in Saigon and Washington urged President Lyndon Baines Johnson to authorize reprisal bombings against North Vietnam , Taylor predicting : " Some of our local squabbles will probably disappear in enthusiasm which our action would generate . " Johnson refused and one reason was the political instability in Saigon . Johnson reasoned the international community and the American public was unlikely to believe the Viet Cong was behind the attack , feeling they would instead blame local infighting for the violence . Johnson administration officials did not conclude that the communists was responsible until four days after the attack . The State Department cabled Taylor , saying " In view of the overall confusion in Saigon " , public US and international opinion towards an American air strike would be that the Johnson administration was " trying to shoot its way out of an internal [ South Vietnamese ] political crisis " .