Dirty Tricks

Ok. We aren't stupid. We know our government is deceptive, that they use lies, half-truths, manipulate the media, they don't have our best interests, as working-class Americans, in mind. And we already talked about one strategy, Astroturfing, used to make activities organized by the government (like the Freedom March - see Rev Mykeru) look like they come from the grass-roots.

Today let's talk about Covert Action.

Covert Action operations are often Disinformation Operations, which are conducted in such a way as to discredit the opposition or the enemy.  This is done, for example, by doing a violent action, such as a bombing, but making it look like the forces of another country or group did it.  Such operations are sometimes called False-Flag Operations, meaning that the operation is conducted to make it look like it was done by people serving under another flag, preferably the enemy’s flag.  If the operation succeeds as designed, people will blame the action on the wrong party (the enemy).  Thus, public opinion will be won over to the side that actually did the killing.  Such false-flag, covert action operations are often referred to as Dirty Tricks...

The policy in Iraq is to keep the country destabilized and on the verge of civil war to show that it cannot govern itself and that it therefore requires the continued presence of American and British forces.  The man accused of being behind much of the bombing going on there is Al-Zarqawi, a man known to be dead for some time now.  Also, because he is (or, rather, was) a Sunni, bombings against the Shi’ia population, if blamed on him and the Sunni insurgents, can keep the pot of civil war simmering, thus giving further justification to keeping American and British forces there.

Most recently, two British Covert Operations specialists were captured in Basra, in Southern Iraq.  They were disguised as Arabs and were carrying bomb-making materials.  When Iraqi police tried to apprehend them, the two covert action operatives resisted arrest and killed two policemen.  They were eventually caught and held in jail.  After the British military learned that they had been captured, it sent tanks into Basra to forcibly free the two men.  An enraged mob attacked the tanks with petrol bombs, and people around the world saw British soldiers jumping out of a flaming tank and being stoned.  The reaction was one of sympathy for the British soldiers.  Few stopped to wonder what was behind the anger and the assault.  Most were sympathetic towards the “poor” British soldiers, who were perceived as being unjustly victimized.

So, who is behind many of the bombings against the Shi’ia and Sunni populations?  It is quite possible, even probable, that many of them are being carried out by American, British, and even Israeli Covert Action operatives.

So, when you watch the news, think more deeply about what you’re seeing; and when you read your newspapers, try reading between the lines or wonder about the source or the writer behind the article.  Has the article been planted?  Is the writer in the pay of an intelligence service? (J.V. Grady, "What is Covert Action?" In (Information Clearing House)

What's next? What's the term for confusing issues by linking them together (like "9/11 and the Iraq War", like "Katrina and the Iraq War"). Come on now. We aren't stupid. We are aware of this strategy every time you use it, Bush administration. Call it like it is.