False flag operation
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A '''false flag operation''' is an operation conducted by one party or government and made to appear as though it were sponsored by another party or government. The term (although not the tactic) has its origins in the traditions of "honourable" naval warfare, where ships were required to sail under their own national flag in order that they could be identified. As people learned that being a sneaky bastard was <s>much more fun</s> much more effective than playing by the rules, ships began sailing under "false" colours, i.e. flying their enemy's flag in order to get close to their enemy, before swapping to their true colours and opening fire. | A '''false flag operation''' is an operation conducted by one party or government and made to appear as though it were sponsored by another party or government. The term (although not the tactic) has its origins in the traditions of "honourable" naval warfare, where ships were required to sail under their own national flag in order that they could be identified. As people learned that being a sneaky bastard was <s>much more fun</s> much more effective than playing by the rules, ships began sailing under "false" colours, i.e. flying their enemy's flag in order to get close to their enemy, before swapping to their true colours and opening fire. | ||
Revision as of 23:44, 16 October 2010
A false flag operation is an operation conducted by one party or government and made to appear as though it were sponsored by another party or government. The term (although not the tactic) has its origins in the traditions of "honourable" naval warfare, where ships were required to sail under their own national flag in order that they could be identified. As people learned that being a sneaky bastard was much more fun much more effective than playing by the rules, ships began sailing under "false" colours, i.e. flying their enemy's flag in order to get close to their enemy, before swapping to their true colours and opening fire.
In the modern use of false flag tactics and operations, this final step is avoided entirely, making it difficult to identify what is really a false flag operation, and what is just some conspiracy nuts not trusting their own government.
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Examples
A list of such attacks either determined or widely held to be false flag attacks follows:
- Nero burns Rome, blames it on the Christians.[1][2]
- The Zinoviev letter.
- Mukden Incident: A railroad in Manchuria owned by Japan's South Manchuria Railway was sabotaged in 1931, probably by Japanese provocateurs, and used as a pretext by Japan to invade, occupy, and set up a puppet government in Manchuria. Japan ended up leaving the league of nations on March 27, 1933 when it became clear that the world was against the Japanese control of Manchuria, with the famous "Our Empire deems it essential to respect the independence of the new State [Manchuria puppet state] and to encourage its healthy development, in order that the sources of evil in the Far East may be eradicated and an enduring peace thereby established." Manchuria was Japan's Iraq. Let's hope Iraq doesn't lead to World War - but those who study history are condemned to watch as history repeats itself.
- Operation Canned Goods: Germany fakes an attack on themselves by Poland, then invades Poland to 'counter Polish aggression'.
- The Gulf of Tonkin incident. US politicians use a non-existent confrontation to further involvement in Viet Nam.
- Operation Susannah and the Lavon affair: Israeli agents conduct minor terrorist attacks against American and British interests in Egypt while trying to make it appear as though radical Muslims were responsible, in a complex scheme to discredit the Egyptian Nasser's government.
Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theorists have claimed that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were a false flag operation, notably in the "documentary" Loose Change. Their claims are not seen as credible by most investigators. It is interesting that the concept of a false flag operation is a staple of almost all conspiracy theories - that a government would attack their own people to justify something is appropriately dramatic and evil to be attractive to anyone already predisposed to the idea that the world is secretly being controlled by dark hidden forces.
Political Cases
False flag attacks have been used as an attempt to discredit the opposition in a political campaign. For instance, in 2008, a woman claimed to have been attacked and mutilated (having 'B' for 'Barack' carved into her face) by a black man for being a McCain supporter. Eventually however she confessed that she had mutilated herself and made the whole incident up [3].