False Flag

 

A false flag is a tactic and type of deception when a country or group carries out an operation against their own side, in order to blame it on the other. False flags aim to accomplish two things, create sympathy for their side, and justification for war. False flags typically utilize some sort of violence or destruction such as an explosion, or terrorist attack. 

Sympathy is created when one side gets attacked, and other countries they are allies with come to their rescue. Also it creates a sense of propaganda towards the attacked countries citizens with a feeling of fear. The term “false flag” originated from naval warfare and is the idea that enemy ships used to fly the other countries flag in order to deceive them, then plan for attack. 

When researching this topic, I found a lot of  articles surrounding the concept that the United States has often used false flags in order to be able to start a war. There is not much evidence surrounding the fact that any of the U.S’s alleged false flag attacks were real. This is often a controversial topic that is not carried by U.S news outlets, and are considered “conspiracies”. 

Some allegations that have been made regarding the United States involvement in false flag attacks include the following conspiracies such as Gulf of Tonkin Incident (1964), Operation Northwoods (1962) and 9/11 Attacks (2001). 

The Gulf of Tonkin incident was an event that incited the Vietnam War where the United States claimed that Vietnam attacked their battleships. It has been suggested that this was a false flag attack in order to justify military intervention in Vietnam. 

Operation Northwoods was a non carried out military false flag plan proposed by the United States that aimed to commit attacks and blame them on Cuba. Because this plan was not carried out, it came out to the public in the 90s and became declassified information. This is a reason a lot of conspiracy theorists believe that the United States has carried out a lot of false flag attacks that are classified. 

The 9/11 attacks in 2001 occurred when the terrorist group, al-Qaeda hijacked planes and flew them into the Twin Tower buildings in New York City. There has been a lot of conspiracy surrounding these attacks and if it was a false flag attack carried out in order to have justification to killing the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden. 

Though these theories are often talked about, they lack evidence and the general population may never know the real truth about them. One example of a confirmed false flag operation is the Gleiwitz incident (1939). This operation was carried out just before the start of WWII, where German military members dressed like Polish soldiers and attacked a German radio station. This operation was part of a plan of Germany wanting to invade Poland.