[El Gato]

Senator Fulbright would later write that the Pentagon had misrepresented the actual event, and that the US had provoked the attack.

Senator Fulbright Billy Jeff's earliest mentor? Hardly a source likely to be thought authoritative in this forum. ;)

[Balata]

In general I would agree with you. However, Senator Fulbright's statement was based on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee inquiry into the events of August, 1964. IMO it was his effort to deflect criticism away from Johnson and the Democrats therefore putting the blame on the Pentagon.