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False flag

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(Redirected fromPseudo-gang)
"False colors" redirects here. For the imaging technique, seeFalse color.
For other uses, seeFalse Flag (disambiguation).

A U.S.Douglas A-26C Invaderpainted in falseCuban Air Forcelivery depicting those used in theBay of Pigs Invasionundertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary groupBrigade 2506in April 1961.

Afalse flagoperation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misrepresentation of someone's allegiance.[1][2]The term was famously used to describe a ruse innaval warfarewhereby a vessel flew the flag of a neutral or enemy country in order to hide its true identity.[1][2][3]The tactic was originally used bypiratesandprivateersto deceive other ships into allowing them to move closer before attacking them. It later was deemed an acceptable practice during naval warfare according to international maritime laws, provided the attacking vessel displayed its true flag once an attack had begun.[4][5][6]

The term today extends to include countries that organize attacks on themselves and make the attacks appear to be by enemy nations or terrorists, thus giving the nation that was supposedly attacked apretextfor domestic repression or foreign military aggression.[7]Similarly deceptive activities carried out during peacetime by individuals or nongovernmental organizations have been called false flag operations, but the more common legal term is a "frameup","stitch up ", or" setup ".

Use in warfare

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In land warfare, such operations are generally deemed acceptable under certain circumstances, such as todeceive enemies,provided the deception is notperfidiousand that all such deceptions are discarded before opening fire upon the enemy. Similarly, innaval warfaresuch a deception is considered permissible, provided the false flag is lowered and the true flag raised before engaging in battle.[8]Auxiliary cruisersoperated in such a fashion in both World Wars, as didQ-ships,while merchant vessels were encouraged to use false flags for protection. Such masquerades promoted confusion not just of the enemy but of historical accounts. In 1914 theBattle of Trindadewas fought between the British auxiliary cruiserRMSCarmaniaand the German auxiliary cruiserSMSCap Trafalgar,which had been altered to look likeCarmania.(Contrary to some accounts, theCarmaniahad not been altered to resemble theCap Trafalgar.)

Another notable example was theWorld War IIGerman commerce raiderKormoran,whichsurprised and sankthe Australian light cruiserHMASSydneyin 1941 while disguised as a Dutch merchant ship, causing the greatest loss of life on an Australian warship. WhileKormoranwas fatally damaged in the engagement and its crew captured, the outcome represented a considerable psychological victory for the Germans.[9]

The British used aKriegsmarineensignin theSt Nazaire Raidand captured a Germancodebook. The old destroyerCampbeltown,which the British planned to sacrifice in the operation, was provided with cosmetic modifications that involved cutting the ship's funnels andchamferingthe edges to resemble a GermanType 23 torpedo boat.By this ruse the British were able to get within two miles (3 km) of the harbour before the defences responded, where the explosive-riggedCampbeltownand commandos successfully disabled or destroyed the key dock structures of the port.[10][11]

Air warfare

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Between December 1922 and February 1923, a commission of jurists atthe Haguedrafted a set of rules concerning the Control of Wireless Telegraphy in Time of War and Air Warfare. They included:[12]

Art. 3. A military aircraft must carry an exterior mark indicating its nationality and its military character.
Art. 19. The use of false exterior marks is forbidden.

This draft was never adopted as a legally binding treaty, but theInternational Committee of the Red Crossstates in its introduction on the draft: "To a great extent, [the draft rules] correspond to the customary rules and general principles underlying treaties on the law of war on land and at sea",[13]and as such these two non-controversial articles were already part of customary law.[14]

Land warfare

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In land warfare, the use of a false flag is similar to that of naval warfare: the trial ofOtto Skorzeny,who planned and commandedOperation Greif,by a U.S.military tribunalat theDachau Trialsincluded a finding that Skorzeny was not guilty of a crime by ordering his men into action in American uniforms. He had relayed to his men the warning of German legal experts: if they fought in American uniforms, they would be breaking thelaws of war;however, they probably were not doing so simply by wearing the American uniforms. During the trial, a number of arguments were advanced to substantiate this position and the German and U.S. military seem to have been in agreement.

In the transcript of the trial,[15]it is mentioned that Paragraph 43 of theField Manualpublished by theWar Department,United States Army,on 1 October 1940, under the entryRules of Land Warfarestates: "National flags, insignias and uniforms as a ruse – in practice it has been authorized to make use of these as a ruse. The foregoing rule (Article 23 of the Annex of theIV Hague Convention), does not prohibit such use, but does prohibit their improper use. It is certainly forbidden to make use of them during a combat. Before opening fire upon the enemy, they must be discarded. "

As pretexts for war

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Further information:Pretext § Uses in warfare

Russo-Swedish War

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In 1788, the head tailor at theRoyal Swedish Operareceived an order to sew a number of Russian military uniforms. These were then used by the Swedes to stage an attack onPuumala,a Swedish outpost on the Russo-Swedish border, on 27 June 1788. This caused an outrage inStockholmand impressed theRiksdag of the Estates,the Swedish national assembly, who until then had refused to agree to an offensive war against Russia. The Puumala incident allowed KingGustav IIIof Sweden, who lacked the constitutional authority to initiate unprovoked hostilities without the Estates' consent, to launch theRusso-Swedish War (1788–1790).[16]

Franco-Prussian War

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Main article:Franco-Prussian War
See also:Causes of the Franco-Prussian War

On July 13, 1870,Otto von Bismarckpublished theEms Dispatch– an internal message from KingWilhelm Ito Bismarck regarding certain demands made by the French ambassador. In the version purposefully released to the public, Bismarck instead made it sound like the King had gravely disrespected the ambassador – a ploy to trick EmperorNapoleon IIIinto declaring war on theNorth German Confederation,with the end goal of unifying the northern and southern German states. This ploy would be successful, as Napoleon III would declare war six days later; and six months later, the Confederation would win andunify the German states.

Second Sino-Japanese War

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Main article:Mukden incident
Japanese experts inspect the scene of the "railway sabotage" on theSouth Manchurian Railway.

In September 1931,Seishirō Itagakiand otherJapanesemid- to junior-grade officers, without the knowledge of the Tokyo government, fabricated a pretext for invadingManchuriaby blowing up a section of railway. Though the explosion was too weak to disrupt operations on the rail line, the Japanese nevertheless used theMukden incidentto seize Manchuria and create apuppet governmentin the form of the nominally independent state ofManchukuo.[17]

World War II

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Gleiwitz incident

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Main article:Gleiwitz incident
Alfred Naujocks

TheGleiwitz incidentin 1939 involvedReinhard Heydrichfabricating evidence of aPolishattack againstGermanyto mobilize German public opinion for war and to justify thewar with Poland.Alfred Naujockswas a key organiser of the operation under orders from Heydrich. It led to the deaths ofNazi concentration campvictims who were dressed as German soldiers and then shot by theGestapoto make it seem that they had been shot by Polish soldiers. This, along with other false flag operations inOperation Himmler,would be used to mobilize support from the German population for the start ofWorld War II in Europe.[18]

The operation failed to convince international public opinion of the German claims, and both Britain and France – Poland's allies – declared war two days after Germany invaded Poland.[19]

Winter War

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On 26 November 1939, theSoviet armyshelled Mainila,a Russian village near the Finnish border. Soviet authorities blamedFinlandfor the attack and used the incident as a pretext to invade Finland, starting theWinter War,four days later.[20][21]

Cuban Revolution

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Operation Northwoods

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Main article:Operation Northwoods
Operation Northwoods memorandum (13 March 1962)[22]

Operation Northwoods,a 1962 plot proposed but never executed by theU.S. Department of Defensefor a war withCuba,involved scenarios such as fabricating the hijacking or shooting down of passenger and military planes, sinking a U.S. ship in the vicinity of Cuba, burning crops, sinking a boat filled with Cuban refugees, attacks by alleged Cuban infiltrators inside the United States, and harassment of U.S. aircraft and shipping and the destruction of aerial drones by aircraft disguised as Cuban MiGs.[23]These actions would be blamed on Cuba, and would be a pretext for an invasion of Cuba and the overthrow ofFidel Castro's communist government. It was authorised by theJoint Chiefs of Staff,but then rejected by PresidentJohn F. Kennedy.The surprise discovery of the documents relating to Operation Northwoods was a result of the comprehensive search for records related to theassassination of President John F. Kennedyby theAssassination Records Review Boardin the mid-1990s.[24]Information about Operation Northwoods was later publicized byJames Bamford.[25]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

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In January and February 2022, Western government agencies predicted that Russia would use a false flag operation in Ukraine.[26]In the days leading up to theRussian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February,the Russian government intensified itsdisinformation campaign,with Russian state media promoting false flags on a nearly hourly basis purporting to show Ukrainian forces attacking Russia, in a bid to justify an invasion of Ukraine.[27][28]Many of the disinformation videos were poor and amateur in quality, with mismatchingmetadatashowing incorrect dates,[28]and evidence fromBellingcatresearchers, and other independent journalists, showed that the claimed attacks, explosions, and evacuations inDonbaswere staged by Russia.[27][29][30][31][28]

As a tactic to undermine political opponents

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Operation TPAJAX

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Main article:1953 Iranian coup d'état

On 4 April 1953, theCIAwas ordered to undermine the government of Iran over a four-month period, as a precursor to overthrowing Prime MinisterMohammad Mosaddegh.[32]One tactic used to undermine Mosaddegh was to carry out false flag attacks "on mosques and key public figures", to be blamed on Iranian communists loyal to the government.[32]

The CIA operation was code-namedTPAJAX.The tactic of a "directed campaign of bombings by Iranians posing as members of the Communist party",[33]involved the bombing of "at least one" well known Muslim's house by CIA agents posing as Communists.[33]The CIA determined that the tactic of false flag attacks added to the "positive outcome" ofTPAJAX.[32]

However, as "the C.I.A. burned nearly all of its files on its role in the 1953 coup in Iran," the true extent of the tactic has been difficult for historians to discern.[34]

Operation Susannah

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Main article:Lavon Affair

In the summer of 1954, a group of Egyptian Jews recruited by Israeli army intelligence were caught with plans to bomb American, British, and Egyptian civil targets in Egypt. The bombs were timed to detonate several hours after closing time. The bombings were to be blamed on theMuslim Brotherhood,EgyptianCommunists,"unspecified malcontents", or "local nationalists", with the aim of creating a climate of sufficient violence and instability to induce the British government to refrain from evacuating its troops occupying Egypt'sSuez Canalzone, a move that would emboldenEgyptian PresidentNasseragainst Israel. However, the plot was exposed before launch and Egyptian authorities were able to tail an operative to his target, arrest him and later search his apartment where the entire plan, including the names of other agents and explosive materials, was held. Unknown to Israel Prime MinisterMoshe Sharet,the exposé caused a scandal in Israel, with Israeli officials blaming one another for the operation and the Israeli defense minister,Pinhas Lavon,resigning under pressure. Later, two investigative committees found that Lavon was unaware of the operation.[35][36][37]

Pseudo-operations

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Pseudo-operations are those in which forces of one power disguise themselves as enemy forces. For example, a state power may disguise teams of operatives as insurgents and, with the aid of defectors, infiltrate insurgent areas.[38]The aim of such pseudo-operations may be to gather short or long-termintelligenceor to engage in active operations, in particularassassinationsof important enemies. However, they usually involve both, as the risks of exposure rapidly increase with time and intelligence gathering eventually leads to violent confrontation. Pseudo-operations may be directed by military or police forces, or both. Police forces are usually best suited to intelligence tasks; however, military provide the structure needed to back up such pseudo-ops with military response forces. According to US military expert Lawrence Cline (2005), "the teams typically have been controlled by police services, but this largely was due to the weaknesses in the respective military intelligence systems."[39]

Charlemagne Péralteof Haiti was assassinated in 1919 after checkpoints were passed by military disguised as guerrilla fighters.

TheState Political Directorate(OGPU) of theSoviet Unionset up such an operation from 1921 to 1926. DuringOperation Trust,they used loose networks ofWhite Armysupporters and extended them, creating the pseudo- "Monarchist Union of Central Russia" (MUCR) in order to help the OGPU identify real monarchists and anti-Bolsheviks.[40]

An example of a successful assassination wasUnited States MarineSergeantHerman H. Hannekenleading a patrol of hisHaitianGendarmeriedisguised as enemyguerrillasin 1919. The patrol successfully passed several enemy checkpoints in order to assassinate the guerilla leaderCharlemagne PéraltenearGrande-Rivière-du-Nord.Hanneken was awarded theMedal of Honor[41]and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant for his deed.[citation needed]

During theMau Mau uprisingin the 1950s, captured Mau Mau members who switched sides and specially trained British troops initiated the pseudo-gang concept to successfully counter Mau Mau. In 1960,Frank Kitson,who was later involved in theNorthern Irish conflictand is now a retired British general, publishedGangs and Counter-gangs,an account of his experiences with the technique inKenya.Information included how to counter gangs and measures of deception, including the use of defectors, which brought the issue a wider audience.[citation needed]

Another example of combined police and military oversight of pseudo-operations include theSelous Scoutsin the former countryRhodesia(nowZimbabwe), governed bywhite minority ruleuntil 1980. The Selous Scouts were formed at the beginning ofOperation Hurricane,in November 1973, by Major (later Lieutenant Colonel)Ronald Reid-Daly.As with all Special Forces in Rhodesia, by 1977 they were controlled by COMOPS (Commander, Combined Operations) Commander Lieutenant GeneralPeter Walls.The Selous Scouts were originally composed of 120 members, with all officers being white and the highest rank initially available for black soldiers beingcolour sergeant.They succeeded in turning approximately 800 insurgents who were then paid by Special Branch, ultimately reaching the number of 1,500 members. Engaging mainly in long-range reconnaissance and surveillance missions, they increasingly turned to offensive actions, including the attempted assassination ofZimbabwe People's Revolutionary ArmyleaderJoshua NkomoinZambia.This mission was finally aborted by the Selous Scouts, and attempted again, unsuccessfully, by theRhodesian Special Air Service.[42]

Some offensive operations attracted international condemnation, in particular the Selous Scouts' raid on aZimbabwe African National Liberation Army(ZANLA) camp at Nyadzonya Pungwe,Mozambiquein August 1976. ZANLA was then led byJosiah Tongogara.Using Rhodesian trucks and armored cars disguised as Mozambique military vehicles, 84 scouts killed 1,284 people in the camp, registered as arefugee campby theUnited Nations(UN). Even according to Reid-Daly, most of those killed were unarmed guerrillas standing in formation for a parade. The camp hospital was also set ablaze by the rounds fired by the Scouts, killing all patients.[43]According to David Martin and Phyllis Johnson, who visited the camp shortly before the raid, it was only a refugee camp that did not host any guerrillas. It was staged for UN approval.[44]

According to a 1978 study by the Directorate of Military Intelligence, 68% of all insurgent deaths inside Rhodesia could be attributed to the Selous Scouts, who were disbanded in 1980.[45]

If the action is a police action, then these tactics would fall within the laws of the state initiating the pseudo, but if such actions are taken in acivil waror during abelligerent military occupationthen those who participate in such actions would not beprivileged belligerents.The principle ofplausible deniabilityis usually applied for pseudo-teams. (See the above sectionLaws of war). Some false flag operations have been described by Lawrence E. Cline, a retiredUS Army intelligenceofficer, as pseudo-operations, or "the use of organized teams which are disguised as guerrilla groups for long- or short-term penetration ofinsurgent-controlled areas ".[38]

"Pseudo-operations should be distinguished," notes Cline, "from the more common police or intelligenceinfiltrationof guerrilla or criminal organizations. In the latter case, infiltration is normally done by individuals. Pseudo teams, on the other hand, are formed as needed from organized units, usually military orparamilitary.The use of pseudo teams has been a hallmark of a number of foreigncounterinsurgencycampaigns. "[38]

Similar false flag tactics were also employed during theAlgerian civil war,starting in the middle of 1994.Death squadscomposed ofDépartement du Renseignement et de la Sécurité(DRS) security forces disguised themselves as Islamist terrorists and committed false flag terror attacks. Such groups included theOrganisation of Young Free Algerians(OJAL) or the Secret Organisation for the Safeguard of the Algerian Republic (OSSRA).[46]According toRoger Faligotand Pascal Kropp (1999), the OJAL was reminiscent of "the Organization of the French Algerian Resistance (ORAF), a group of counter-terrorists created in December 1956 by theDirection de la surveillance du territoire(Territorial Surveillance Directorate, or DST) whose mission was to carry out terrorist attacks with the aim of quashing any hopes of political compromise ".[47]

Espionage

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Main article:False flag penetrator

Inespionage,the term "false flag" describes the recruiting of agents by operatives posing as representatives of a cause the prospective agents are sympathetic to, or even the agents' own government. For example, during theCold War,several femaleWest Germancivil servants were tricked into stealing classified documents by agents of theEast GermanStasiintelligence service pretending to be members of West German peace advocacy groups (theStasiagents were also described as "Romeos",indicating that they also used their sex appeal to manipulate their targets, making this operation a combination of the false flag and"honey trap"techniques).[48]

According to ex-KGB defectorJack Barsky,"Many a right-wing radical had given information to the Soviets under a 'false flag', thinking they were working with a Western ally, such as Israel, when in fact their contact was a KGB operative."[49]

Civilian usage

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The term is popular amongstconspiracy theorypromoters in referring tocovert operationsof various governments and claimedcabals.[50]According toColumbia Journalism Review,this usage mostly "migrated to the right", however because some historical false flag incidents occurred, historians should not fully cede the usage of the term to conspiracy theorists. Perlman says "The real danger is if we use the nonattributive 'false flags' as shorthand for conspiracy theories, without explaining what they are and who is promoting them." At the same time, Perlman writes that "people yelling that any attack attributed to someone on 'their side' was committed by 'the other side' drown out the voices of reason."[2]

Political campaigning

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Political campaigning has a long history of this tactic in various forms, including in person, print media and electronically in recent years. This can involve when supporters of one candidate pose as supporters of another, or act as "straw men"for their preferred candidate to debate against. This can happen with or without the candidate's knowledge. TheCanuck letteris an example of one candidate's creating a false document and attributing it as coming from another candidate in order to discredit that candidate.[citation needed]

In 2006, individuals practicing false flag behavior were discovered and "outed" inNew Hampshire[51][52]andNew Jersey[53]afterblogcomments claiming to be from supporters of a political candidate were traced to theIP addressof paid staffers for that candidate's opponent.

On 19 February 2011, Indiana Deputy Prosecutor Carlos Lam sent a private email to Wisconsin GovernorScott Walkersuggesting that he run a "'false flag' operation" to counter theprotestsagainst Walker's proposed restrictions on public employees'collective bargainingrights:

If you could employ an associate who pretends to be sympathetic to the unions' cause to physically attack you (or even use a firearm against you), you could discredit the unions... Employing a false flag operation would assist in undercutting any support the media may be creating in favor of the unions.[54][55]

The press had acquired a court order to access all of Walker's emails and Lam's email was exposed. At first, Lam vehemently denied it, but eventually admitted it and resigned.[55]

Some conservative commentators suggested thatpipe bombs that were sent to prominent Democrats prior to the 2018 mid-term electionswere part of a false flag effort to discredit Republicans and supporters of then-President Donald Trump.[56]Cesar Sayoc, motivated by his belief that Democrats were “evil”, was later convicted of mailing the devices to Trump's critics.[57]

On the internet, aconcern trollis a false flagpseudonymcreated by a user whose actualpoint of viewis opposed to the one that the troll claims to hold. The concern troll posts in web forums devoted to its declared point of view and attempts to sway the group's actions or opinions while claiming toshare their goals,but with professed "concerns". The goal is to sowfear, uncertainty, and doubtwithin the group often by appealing tooutrage culture.[58]This is a particular case ofsockpuppetingandsafe-baiting.

Ideological

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A bomb threat forged by Scientology operatives

Proponents of political or religious ideologies will sometimes use false flag tactics. This can be done to discredit or implicate rival groups, create the appearance of enemies when none exist, or create the illusion of organized and directed persecution. This can be used to gain attention and sympathy from outsiders, in particular the media, or to convince others within the group that their beliefs are under attack and in need of protection.

In retaliation for writingThe Scandal of Scientology,some members of the Church ofScientologystole stationery from authorPaulette Cooper's home and then used that stationery to forge bomb threats and have them mailed to a Scientology office. TheGuardian's Officealso had a plan for further operations to discredit Cooper known asOperation Freakout,but several Scientology operatives were arrested in a separate investigation and the plan was exposed.[59]

According toPolitiFact,some false flag conspiracy theories (such as claims that mass shootings are hoaxes) are themselves spread byastroturfing,which is an attempt to create false impression of popularity in a belief.[60]

See also

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Concepts

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References

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  1. ^abO'Conner, Patricia; Kellerman, Stewart (11 May 2018)."The True History of False Flags".Grammarphobia.com.Retrieved9 June2020.
  2. ^abc"How the term 'false flag' migrated to the right".Columbia Journalism Review.Retrieved23 December2021.
  3. ^"False flags: What are they and when have they been used?".BBC News.18 February 2022.Retrieved20 May2022.
  4. ^Politakis, George P. (2018).Modern Aspects of the Laws of Naval Warfare and Maritime Neutrality.Taylor & Francis. pp. 281–.ISBN978-1-136-88577-8.
  5. ^Faye Kert (30 September 2015).Privateering: Patriots and Profits in the War of 1812.JHU Press. pp. 62–.ISBN978-1-4214-1747-9.
  6. ^Donald R. Hickey; Connie D. Clark (8 October 2015).The Routledge Handbook of the War of 1812.Routledge. pp. 64–.ISBN978-1-317-70198-9.
  7. ^deHaven-Smith, Lance (2013).Conspiracy Theory in America.Austin:University of Texas Press.p. 225
  8. ^"the use of a false flag has always been accepted as a legitimateruse de guerrein naval warfare, the true battle flag being run up immediately before engaging "(Thomas, Rosamund M., ed. (1993),Teaching Ethics: Government ethics,Centre for Business and Public, p. 80,ISBN9781871891034).
  9. ^Squires, Nick. "HMAS Sydney found off Australia's west coast",The Telegraph,17 March 2008.
  10. ^Guinness World Records (2009), p.155
  11. ^Young, P (Ed) (1973) Atlas of the Second World War (London: The Military Book Society)
  12. ^The Hague Rules of Air Warfare,December 1922 to February 1923, this convention was never adopted (backup site).
  13. ^"Rules concerning the Control of Wireless Telegraphy in Time of War and Air Warfare. Drafted by a Commission of Jurists at the Hague, December 1922 – February 1923: Introduction".ICRC.Retrieved30 October2010.
  14. ^Gómez, Javier Guisández (20 June 1998)."The Law of Air Warfare".International Review of the Red Cross.38(323): 347–63.doi:10.1017/S0020860400091075.Archived fromthe originalon 25 April 2013.
  15. ^Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals. United Nations War Crimes Commission.Vol IX, 1949: Trial of Otto Skorzeny and others.Archived2 October 2008 at theWayback Machine.General Military Government Court of the U.S. zone of Germany 18 August to 9 September 1947.
  16. ^Mattila, Tapabi (1983).Meri maamme turvana: Suomen meripuolustuksen vaiheita Ruotsin vallan aikana(in Finnish). Jyväskylä: Suomi Merellä-säätiö. p. 142.ISBN951-99487-0-8.
  17. ^Weland, James (1994). "Misguided Intelligence: Japanese Military Intelligence Officers in the Manchurian Incident, September 1931". Journal of Military History 58 (3): 445–460. doi:10.2307/2944134.
  18. ^Bradley Lightbody, The Second World War: Ambitions to Nemesis, Routledge, 2004,ISBN0-415-22405-5,Google Print, p.39
  19. ^Steven J. Zaloga,Poland 1939: The Birth of Blitzkrieg,Osprey Publishing, 2002,ISBN1-84176-408-6,p. 39
  20. ^Turtola, Martti (1999). "Kansainvälinen kehitys Euroopassa ja Suomessa 1930-luvulla". In Leskinen, Jari; Juutilainen, Antti (eds.).Talvisodan pikkujättiläinen.pp. 44–45.
  21. ^Murphy, David (2021).The Finnish-Soviet Winter War 1939-40 Stalin's Hollow Victory.Johnny Shumate. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. p. 9.ISBN978-1-4728-4394-4.OCLC1261364794.
  22. ^U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff,"Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba (TS)",U.S. Department of Defense,13 March 1962. The Operation Northwoods document inPDFformat on the website of the independent, non-governmental research institute theNational Security Archiveat theGeorge Washington UniversityGelman Library,Washington, D.C. Direct PDF links:hereandhere.
  23. ^"Operation Northwoods: Justification for U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba, 3/13/62".
  24. ^Horne, Douglas P., Chief Analyst for Military Records, Assassination Records Review Board (2009).Inside the Assassination Records Review Board: The U.S. Government's Final Attempt to Reconcile the Conflicting Medical Evidence in the Assassination of JFK.self published.ISBN978-0984314447.Retrieved30 October2018.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^James Bamford (2002).Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency.Anchor Books. pp.82–91.ISBN978-0-385-49907-1.
  26. ^Walton, Calder (4 February 2022)."False-Flag Invasions Are a Russian Specialty".Foreign Policy.Retrieved14 March2022.
  27. ^abGilbert, David (21 February 2022)."Russia's 'Idiotic' Disinformation Campaign Could Still Lead to War in Ukraine".Vice Media.Archivedfrom the original on 21 February 2022.Retrieved22 February2022.
  28. ^abc"Four Russian false flags that are comically easy to debunk".The Telegraph.21 February 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 22 February 2022.Retrieved22 February2022.
  29. ^"Russia says it prevented border breach from Ukraine, Kyiv calls it fake news".Reuters.21 February 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 21 February 2022.Retrieved21 February2022.
  30. ^Bellingcat Investigation Team (23 February 2022)."Documenting and Debunking Dubious Footage from Ukraine's Frontlines".Bellingcat.Archivedfrom the original on 23 February 2022.Retrieved24 February2022.
  31. ^"'Dumb and lazy': the flawed films of Ukrainian 'attacks' made by Russia's 'fake factory'".The Guardian.21 February 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 21 February 2022.Retrieved22 February2022.
  32. ^abcCallanan, James (2009).Covert Action in the Cold War: US Policy, intelligence and CIA operations,London: I.B. Tauris. p.115
  33. ^abRisen, James.Secrets of History: The C.I.A. in Iran – A Special Report; How a Plot Convulsed Iran in '53 (and '79).The New York Times,16 April 2000
  34. ^Weiner, Tim (1997).C.I.A. Destroyed Files on 1953 Iran coup,The New York Times,29 May.
  35. ^The encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli conflict: a political, social, and military history.ABC-CLIO. 2008. p.610.
  36. ^Black, Ian;Morris, Benny(1 June 1992).Israel's secret wars: a history of Israel's intelligence services.Grove Press. p. 111.ISBN978-0-8021-3286-4.Retrieved19 June2011.
  37. ^S. Teveth (1996).Ben-Gurion's spy: the story of the political scandal that shaped modern Israel.Columbia University Press. p. 81.ISBN978-0-231-10464-7.
  38. ^abcCline, Lawrence E. (2005)Pseudo Operations and Counterinsurgency: Lessons from other countries,Archived16 November 2016 at theWayback Machine,Strategic Studies Institute.
  39. ^"Excerpt – Pseudo Operations and Counterinsurgency: Lessons from Other Countries".ssi.armywarcollege.edu.Archived fromthe originalon 2 May 2017.Retrieved16 October2019.
  40. ^Andrew, Christopher (2001).The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB.Basic Books. pp. 33–35, 42.ISBN0-465-00312-5.
  41. ^"Ex-Marine Corps Gen. Hanneken Dies".Los Angeles Times.27 August 1986.ISSN0458-3035.Retrieved7 November2017.
  42. ^Cline (2005), p. 11.
  43. ^Cline (2005), quoting Reid-Daly,Pamwe Chete: The Legend of the Selous Scouts,Weltevreden Park, South Africa:Covos-Day Books,1999, p. 10 (republished by Covos Day, 2001,ISBN978-1-919874-33-3).
  44. ^Cline (2005), who quotes David Martin and Phyllis Johnson,The Struggle for Zimbabwe: the Chimurenga War,New York: Monthly Review Press, 1981, pp. 241–242.
  45. ^Cline (2005), pp. 8–13. For 1978 study, quotes J. K. Cilliers,Counter-insurgency in Rhodesia,London:Croom Helm,1985, pp. 60–77. Cline also quotes Ian F. W. Beckett,The Rhodesian Army: Counter-Insurgency 1972–1979atselousscouts.
  46. ^Lounis Aggoun and Jean-Baptiste Rivoire (2004).Françalgérie, crimes et mensonges d'Etats,(Franco-Algeria, Crimes and Lies of the States).Editions La Découverte[fr].ISBN2-7071-4747-8.Extract in English with mention of the OJALavailable here.
  47. ^Luonis Aggoun and Jean-Baptiste Rivoire,ibid.,quotingRoger Faligotand Pascal KROP,DST, Police Secrète,Flammarion,1999, p. 174.
  48. ^Crawford, Angus (20 March 2009)."Victims of Cold War 'Romeo spies'".BBC Online.Retrieved10 April2009.
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  • The dictionary definition offalse flagat Wiktionary
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