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View Full Version : What Is A "False Flag Operation"?



Gold9472
07-17-2005, 08:01 PM
What Is A "False Flag Operation"?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag

False flag operations are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to appear as if they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is, flying the flag of another country other than your own. This was considered acceptable provided one lowered the false flag and raised the national flag before engaging in battle. Auxiliary cruisers operated in such a fashion in both World Wars. In the most notable example, the German Kormoran raider surprised and sunk the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney in 1941, causing the greatest loss of life on an Australian ship ever.

Another example of a false flag operation was the 1954 Lavon Affair, when Egyptian Jews recruited by Mossad firebombed a post office building and United States Information Services libraries at consulates in Cairo and Alexandria in an attempt to discredit the Egyptian government and disrupt British plans to withdraw from the Suez Canal. When one of the bombs exploded prematurely, the Egyptian police captured one of the bombers and soon afterwards the rest of the agents. The Israeli Defense Minister Pinchas Lavon was eventually forced to resign.

In the civilian world, similar operations are being employed in some less-ethical public relations campaigns.