Posted by So another new term enters our media and common vocabulary via the Pentagon. Yes, from the people who brought you “kinetic military action” as a euphemism for we are shooting live ammunition, blowing up stuff and killing people; we now have the term “false flag operation“. According to Wikipedia, “a false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party.” We thusly have CNN reporting, “US intelligence indicates Russia preparing operation to justify invasion of Ukraine.”
“The US has information that indicates Russia has prepositioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in eastern Ukraine, a US official told CNN on Friday, in an attempt to create a pretext for an invasion. The official said the US has evidence that the operatives are trained in urban warfare and in using explosives to carry out acts of sabotage against Russia’s own proxy forces. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the Defense Department has credible information indicating Russia has ‘prepositioned a group of operatives’ to execute ‘an operation designed to look like an attack on them or Russian-speaking people in Ukraine’ in order to create a reason for a potential invasion.”
While all of this is entirely possible, its reads as if Russia is the only country that would do such a nefarious act when indeed it is America who is the actual master of the craft.
Lets start with the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848. According to Wikipedia, “In the 1844 United States presidential election, Democrat James K. Polk was elected on a platform of expanding U.S. territory in Oregon and Texas. Polk advocated expansion by either peaceful means or by armed force, with the 1845 annexation of Texas furthering that goal by peaceful means. However, the boundary between Texas and Mexico was disputed, with the Republic of Texas and the U.S. asserting it to be the Rio Grande River and Mexico claiming it to be the more-northern Nueces River. Both Mexico and the U.S. claimed the disputed area and sent troops. Polk sent U.S. Army troops to the area; he also sent a diplomatic mission to Mexico to try to negotiate the sale of territory. U.S. troops’ presence was designed to lure Mexico into starting the conflict, putting the onus on Mexico and allowing Polk to argue to Congress that a declaration of war should be issued. Mexican forces attacked U.S. forces, and the United States Congress declared war.”
Lest there be any doubt that this was the intent of the United States, the personal memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant makes it clear. “The presence of United States troops on the edge of the disputed territory farthest from the Mexican settlements, was not sufficient to provoke hostilities. We were sent to provoke a fight, but it was essential that Mexico should commence it. It was very doubtful whether Congress would declare war; but if Mexico should attack our troops, the Executive could announce, “Whereas, war exists by the acts of, etc.,” and prosecute the contest with vigor. Once initiated there were, but few public men who would have the courage to oppose it… Mexico showing no willingness to come to the Nueces to drive the invaders from her soil, it became necessary for the “invaders” to approach to within a convenient distance to be struck. Accordingly, preparations were begun for moving the army to the Rio Grande, to a point near Matamoras [sic]. It was desirable to occupy a position near the largest centre of population possible to reach, without absolutely invading territory to which we set up no claim whatever.”
Yup, send troops into a disputed territory to provoke a response and then start a war where you end taking over half of Mexican territory including the disputed parts of Texas and basically all of which we today know as California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.
Then there is the Spanish-American War of 1898, where America gained ownership of Guam, Puerto Rico, The Philippines and temporary control of Cuba (with both the latter in revolution, the Americans had to “conquer” them first afterwards as well). Guam and Puerto Rico are still US protectorates (American euphemism for colonies as they were technically against European colonialism). According to Wikipedia, “McKinley sent USS Maine to Havana to ensure the safety of American citizens and interests, and to underscore the urgent need for reform. Naval forces were moved in position to attack simultaneously on several fronts if the war was not avoided. As Maine left Florida, a large part of the North Atlantic Squadron was moved to Key West and the Gulf of Mexico. Others were also moved just off the shore of Lisbon, and others were moved to Hong Kong too… At 9:40 P.M. on February 15, 1898, Maine sank in Havana Harbor after suffering a massive explosion. More than 3/4 of the ship’s crew of 355 sailors, officers and marines died as a result of the explosion… After Maine was destroyed, New York City newspaper publishers Hearst and Pulitzer decided that the Spanish were to blame, and they publicized this theory as fact in their papers. Even prior to the explosion, both had published sensationalistic accounts of “atrocities” committed by the Spanish in Cuba; headlines such as “Spanish Murderers” were commonplace in their newspapers. Following the explosion, this tone escalated with the headline “Remember The Maine, To Hell with Spain!”, quickly appearing… The U.S. Navy’s investigation, made public on March 28, concluded that the ship’s powder magazines were ignited when an external explosion was set off under the ship’s hull. This report poured fuel on popular indignation in the U.S., making war virtually inevitable. Spain’s investigation came to the opposite conclusion: the explosion originated within the ship. Other investigations in later years came to various contradictory conclusions, but had no bearing on the coming of the war.”
So there you have it, you send your navy out to be in position to attack multiple targets in different parts of the world and the battleship you send to the harbour of your enemy mysteriously blows up at night giving you all the reason you need to declare war.
But all of that is ancient history you say and was in an era with a nascent and young America pursuing a policy of Manifest Destiny under the Munroe Doctrine. Well lets fast forward to the 20th Century then.
With the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and their subsequent withdrawal from IndoChina in 1954 which they attempted to reclaim as their colony following the end of World War II; the United States ended up being the main financial and military and financial supporter of the South against the communist regime in the North. for a decade, the US slowly ramped up its support and “military advisers” in South Vietnam to 23,000 in 1964. Then came the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
According to Wikipedia, “The Gulf of Tonkin incident, also known as the USS Maddox incident, was an international confrontation that led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War. It involved both a proven confrontation on August 2, 1964, carried out by North Vietnamese forces in response to covert operations in the coastal region of the gulf, and a second claimed confrontation on August 4, 1964, between ships of North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. The original American report blamed North Vietnam for both incidents, but further investigation suggested that the dismissal by Department of State and other government personnel of legitimate concerns regarding the veracity of the second incident was used to justify an escalation by the U.S. to a state of war against North Vietnam.”
“A highly classified program of covert actions against North Vietnam, known as Operation Plan 34-Alpha, in conjunction with the DESOTO operations, had begun under the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1961. In 1964, the program was transferred to the Defense Department and conducted by the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG).For t he maritime portion of the covert operation, a set of fast patrol boats had been purchased quietly from Norway and sent to South Vietnam. In 1963, three young Norwegian skippers traveled on a mission in South Vietnam. They were recruited for the job by the Norwegian intelligence officer Alf Martens Meyer. Martens Meyer, who was head of department at the military intelligence staff, operated on behalf of U.S. intelligence. The three skippers did not know who Meyer really was when they agreed to a job that involved them in sabotage missions against North Vietnam.”
“Although the boats were crewed by South Vietnamese naval personnel, approval for each mission conducted under the plan came directly from Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp Jr., CINCPAC in Honolulu, who received his orders from the White House. After the coastal attacks began, Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, lodged a complaint with the International Control Commission (ICC), which had been established in 1954 to oversee the terms of the Geneva Accords, but the U.S. denied any involvement. Four years later, Secretary McNamara admitted to Congress that the U.S. ships had in fact been cooperating in the South Vietnamese attacks against North Vietnam. Maddox, although aware of the operations, was not directly involved.”
“The night before the launching of the actions against North Vietnamese facilities on Hòn Mê and Hòn Ngư islands, the MACV-SOG had launched a covert long-term agent team into North Vietnam, which was promptly captured. That night (for the second evening in a row), two flights of CIA-sponsored Laotian fighter-bombers (piloted by Thai mercenaries) attacked border outposts well within southwestern North Vietnam. The Hanoi government (which, unlike the U.S. government, had to give permission at the highest levels for the conduct of such missions) probably assumed that they were all a coordinated effort to escalate military actions against North Vietnam.”
“In response, the U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and gave President Lyndon B. Johnson broad authority to increase American military presence in Vietnam. Johnson ordered the deployment of combat units for the first time and increased troop levels to 184,000.”
Well that was during the cold war and America was fighting the spread of global Communism under to auspices of the Domino Theory. There always seems to be some kind of excuse when the United States engages in “false flag” activities, overt and covert, as justification for going to war.
But then we fast forward to more recent times, one that most people alive still remember, the Iraq War. Again, according to Wikipedia, “The invasion occurred as part of the George W. Bush administration’s War on Terror following the September 11 attacks despite no connection of the latter to Iraq. In October 2002, Congress granted President Bush the power to decide whether to launch any military attack in Iraq. The Iraq War began on 20 March 2003, when the US, joined by the UK, Australia, and Poland launched a “shock and awe” bombing campaign. Iraqi forces were quickly overwhelmed as coalition forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Ba’athist government; Saddam Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year and executed three years later. The power vacuum following Saddam’s demise and mismanagement by the Coalition Provisional Authority led to widespread civil war between Shias and Sunnis, as well as a lengthy insurgency against coalition forces.”
“The Bush administration based its rationale for the Iraq War on the claim that Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program, and that Iraq posed a threat to the United States and its allies. Some US officials falsely accused Saddam of harbouring and supporting al-Qaeda. In 2004, the 9/11 Commission concluded there was no evidence of any relationship between Saddam’s regime and al-Qaeda. No stockpiles of WMDs or an active WMD program were ever found in Iraq. Bush administration officials made numerous claims about a purported Saddam–al-Qaeda relationship and WMDs that were based on sketchy evidence rejected by intelligence officials. The rationale for war faced heavy criticism both domestically and internationally.”
Today, as the BBC reports, “Russia is plotting to stage acts of provocation to create a pretext to invade Ukraine… A Pentagon spokesman said Russian operatives were planning a “false-flag” operation, to allow Moscow to accuse Ukraine of preparing an attack. Russia has dismissed the claims.” I’m not saying this isn’t true or accurate; only that as Russian President Putin said to President Biden late last year after he accused the Russian leader of being “a killer” — “it takes one to know one“.