(Written by Nick Giambruno. Originally posted here in International Man, republished with permission.)
A false flag is an incident designed to deceive people into thinking someone else actually carried it out.
It’s like the scene in the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
There’s a character who plays on the high school football team and has a fancy sports car. Later, his little brother’s friend accidentally trashes this car.
Terrified at how the big brother could respond, they devise a clever plan to shift the blame on someone else. They make it look like the rival football team vandalized the car, decorating it in the rival team’s colors and slogans.
The plan works.
The big brother is tricked into thinking that a rival football team trashed his car instead of the little brother.
This is the essence of a false flag. Governments and intelligence services use the same tactic to nefarious effect.
Take the Mukden Incident in 1931. The Japanese fabricated an attack to justify the invasion of Manchuria.
In 1939, before invading Poland, Nazi Germany staged an attack. They made the Poles look like the attackers.
There was the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964. That’s when North Vietnam supposedly fired torpedoes at a US warship. The torpedoes missed, and there was no damage. But that made no difference…
President Lyndon Johnson interrupted national television later that evening. In a fiery speech, he rallied the American people against this attack on the US military.
It was the official start of the Vietnam War… one of the biggest disasters in US history. And it all started with the “attack” in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Except the torpedo attack never happened. It was a false pretext for entering the Vietnam War.
Fast forward to 2014, to the sniper attacks in Kiev, Ukraine. It catalyzed the overthrow of the pro-Russian government. But it’s believed to be a false flag attack.
Then there was the 2017 chemical weapons attack in Syria. Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claims it was a false flag attack intended to get the US directly involved in the Syrian war.
So why am I telling you about this now?
There are two reasons.
First, so you understand this devious tactic and are not fooled by it. False flag attacks are often the pretexts to launch big wars.
Second, because the situation today in the Middle East is ripe for a false flag incident to cause a war with Iran, that could escalate and ignite a global war.
USS Liberty Redux?
It was the deadliest attack on an American ship since World War 2…
It was a clear, sunny day on June 8, 1967—during the Six-Day War—and the USS Liberty was 13 miles off the northern coast of the Sinai Peninsula in international waters.
Israeli aircraft made several low-altitude fly-overs of the ship, which was flying a large US flag from the bridge and was clearly marked “USS Liberty.” There was no mistaking it for anything but a US ship.
Then, at around 2 PM, the Israelis attacked with fighter jets, which dropped bombs and napalm and then strafed the Liberty’s deck. The initial attack disabled the ship’s communication system, making it impossible to broadcast a distress signal.
After the fighter jets left, Israeli torpedo boats launched their torpedoes at the Liberty, with one delivering a direct and devastating hit.
Around the same time, several Israeli helicopters loaded with soldiers in full combat gear hovered over the Liberty.
The Israelis then machine-gunned the lifeboats which had been launched to try to save the wounded.
The attack was fast and furious. Many believe the intent was to sink the ship and leave no survivors.
That is exactly what would have happened had it not been for the heroic efforts of one sailor, who risked machine gun fire to repair the Liberty’s antenna so they could send a distress signal out.
The Israelis intercepted the distress signal and called off the attack.
In the end, the attack killed 34 US sailors and wounded a further 174—about 67% of the entire crew.
Israel claimed it was a case of mistaken identity, and they mistook the USS Liberty for an Egyptian vessel.
The US government more or less accepted Israel’s explanation, swept the incident under the rug, and threatened survivors with court martial if they ever spoke about it.
However, as detailed in the authoritative book, The Attack on the Liberty, many sailors who survived the USS Liberty attack find the official explanation implausible and ridiculous.
They believe it was a deliberate attack intended to sink the ship and kill the entire crew.
Presuming the survivors are correct, nobody knows Israel’s true motivation in attacking the USS Liberty.
Some believe it was a failed false flag attack. The idea was to sink the ship, leaving no survivors, and then pin the blame on Egypt to force the US to enter the Six-Day War on Israel’s side.
The reason I am bringing up the story of the USS Liberty is that an eerily similar situation is unfolding right now.
Following Hamas’ recent attack out of the Gaza Strip, the Middle East is on the brink of the largest regional war in decades.
The US has sent an armada of ships to the Eastern Mediterranean, not far from where the USS Liberty incident occurred 56 years ago.
The situation is ripe for a false flag incident that forces the US into the war, which will undoubtedly bring in Iran and its allies.
However, it could expand beyond the Middle East because Russia and China stand behind Iran and its allies.
In short, the Middle East is on the precipice of a large regional war that could escalate to a global war.
World War 3 is a possibility.
All that is needed to kick it all off is a catalyzing event, just like how other big wars started.
A false flag attack on a US ship in the Eastern Mediterranean would do the trick.
Unfortunately, most people have no idea how close we are to a catastrophe of historical proportions, let alone how to prepare…
The coming crisis could be much worse, much longer, and very different than what we’ve seen since World War 2.
Countless millions throughout history were wiped out financially—or worse—as big powers collided.
Don’t be one of them.
That’s precisely why I just released an urgent new report with all the details, including what you must do to prepare.
It’s called The Most Dangerous Economic Crisis in 100 Years… the Top 3 Strategies You Need Right Now.
