False flags – are you fooled?

“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 a country other than one’s own. False flag operations are not limited to war and counter-insurgency operations, and have been used in peace-time; for example, during Italy ’s strategy of tension.” — Wikipedia

“How many buildings collapsed in the 9/11 World Trade Center ‘attack’,” I often ask groups that I have coffee with to test their understanding of what happened in the World Trade Center complex in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. Nine out of 10 would answer without hesitation that two buildings collapsed. One would either be uncertain and say that he seems to have an impression that more than two buildings collapsed or another would say even more buildings had collapsed. The fact is, three buildings collapsed. WTC 1 and 2 -- the North and South Towers -- were hit by airplanes and collapsed allegedly due to the heat from the exploding planes and jet fuel; but a third building, WTC 7, also collapsed, which was never hit by any airplane; yet it collapsed.

Even more intriguing is the fact that the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) reported on air the collapse of WTC 7 20 minutes before it actually happened, giving rise to the belief that the people stage-managing the news were fed the information too early and screwed up -- as it’s all caught on TV footage. There is also a video footage available on YouTube of the WTC building complex owner, Larry Silverstein, saying he ordered to “pull it” on WTC 7 — which, in building demolition language, is an order to demolish a building. Larry Silverstein bought the complex about six months before 9/11 and added “terror attack” to the insurance coverage while he had a security company handling the security of the complex which had a Bush brother on the board.

There is an article on the Internet entitled, “70 reasons you should doubt the official 9/11 story” that I suggest for readers to Google to learn more. I can only cite a few crucial reasons in this limited space: 1) aviation fuel can burn only at a maximum of 1,500°F while the special structural steel of the WTC buildings were designed to withstand up to 2,750°F heat, 2) WTC 1 and 2 fell flat out in just over nine and a half seconds or at free fall speed, and any resisting structures were simultaneously removed as the top fell, which is only possible in a virtually simultaneous explosion of each floor, 3) there is no building in history, some almost as tall and decades older than WTC and being 10 times longer, that has ever collapsed from fire. These are only three of the 70 other reasons you should study.

Over 400 US scientists (physicists, architects, engineers, explosive experts, etc.) and thousands of experts all over the world have come forward to oppose the official version of what happened on 9/11 at the WTC. Michael Moore started the documentary critiques of the official version with Fahrenheit 9/11 which was followed by Loose Change 9/11 (now in its third or fourth editions), the 9/11 Mysteries and 9/11 Chronicles, and now an Italian investigative production entitled ZERO. There are also German and Japanese productions -- the latter has one proving that the so-called cell phone calls from the airplanes to the ground were not possible at that time because of technological limitations. The 9/11 Truth Movement skeptics are gaining more ground as time moves on -- a sure sign that it has truth on its side.

According to an ABC News poll, in October 2001, 92 percent of US citizens approved of “the way Bush (was) handling the US campaign against terrorism.” Today, that number has dropped to 53 percent. The numbers mirror those in a CBS and Gallup poll. According to a May Zogby survey, 42 percent of the US population believes the government concealed evidence contradicting official accounts of the events of that day, and 45 percent believes there should be another investigation. According to an August Scripps Howard-Ohio University survey, 36 percent of the US population believes it is “very or somewhat likely that federal officials either participated in or allowed the attacks to happen to justify war in the Middle East .” Celebrities who doubt that al-Qaeda “did it” include Gov. Jesse Ventura, Charlie and Martin Sheen, Rosie O’Donnell, and others.

What is beyond doubt in the 9/11 WTC attack saga is that Bush, Cheney and the neo-cons used it as the excuse to declare the “War on Terror,” thereafter attacking Afghanistan and Iraq, raising defense industry stocks and imposing Draconian statues in the US and elsewhere -- like the Philippines, which was compelled to enact anti-terror laws too.

Here, this column has been the chief advocate of educating the Filipino public about “false flag” operations because it is the key to liberating the Filipino mind from the manipulation of powerful forces who can create heinous, violent events to spin in media and manipulate mass perceptions toward political-economic objectives. “False flag” operations have been standard political tools since historian Hannah Arendt studied the Nazi’s “Reichstag Fire” false flag operation which allowed Hitler to impose his police state over Germany .

Filipinos have been increasingly victimized by “false flag” operations in the past decades, from the incompetent “ambush me” of Juan Ponce Enrile in the build-up toward Martial Rule of Marcos, to the FIDEL (Plaza Ferguson, International airport, Dusit Hotel, Edsan Transit and LRT) bombings by Gloria henchmen but blamed on various Islamic movements (and even on Erap and Lacson) but meant to depose Erap, the Glorietta bombing which Bert Gonzales attempted to blame on Muslim extremists as a pretext to imposing emergency measures, and the Basilan Massacre of Marines to divert AFP focus from Manila to Basilan while Gloria “convicted” former President Estrada. The recent Kato and Bravo attacks on Mindanao communities are also a deliberate diversion to shift blame for the MILF MoA fiasco away from Gloria.

Some classic “false flag” operations have involved one by CIA agent Michael Meiring in Davao in 2002, which aimed to create tension while the US regrouped the MILF after being scuttled by Erap in 2000 and, of course, “Operation Greenbase,” which the Magdalos exposed at Oakwood.

Remember: “By way of deception, thou shalt do war.” — Mossad