Scribblers of War
False flag operations - those carefully crafted deceptions that blur the lines between reality and fiction. As a scribbler who's spent years immersed in espionage thrillers, I can't help but see the familiar beats of storytelling woven through these real-life covert acts.
Governments, intelligence agencies, and mil-spec operators direct intricate narratives to shape global events. The stage isn't a film set. It's the real world. And the audience? Clueless.
Let's pull back the curtain on some of history's most notorious false flags:
The Mukden Incident (1931) - Japan's perfect excuse to invade Manchuria. The plot? Stage a small railway explosion, blame Chinese dissidents, and boom - you've got a full-scale invasion underway. The production team included military planners crafting the official story, engineers rigging the blast, officers planting evidence, and media spreading the specious narrative.
The Gleiwitz Incident (1939) - Hitler's green light to kick off WWII by invading Poland. Nazi operatives disguised as Polish insurgents seize a German radio station near the border, broadcast anti-German messages, and leave behind a dead German farmer in a Polish uniform. Cue the invasion and a state media blitz framing Poland as the aggressor.
The Lavon Affair (1954) - Israel's botched attempt at political manipulation in Egypt. Mossad recruits Egyptian Jews to bomb British & American targets in Cairo and Alexandria, aiming to disrupt negotiations over the Suez Canal. The plan unravels when operatives are caught, leading to a scandal and diplomatic fallout with the U.S.
Gulf of Tonkin (1964) - The phantom naval attack spun into a blank check for war in Vietnam. After a minor first incident, the U.S. government claims a second attack that never happened. Distorted intel, Pentagon pressure, an infamous LBJ speech, and uncritical media coverage. The false flag that launched a decade of war.
Operation Northwoods (1962) - The Joint Chiefs' chilling plan to stage terror attacks on U.S. soil and blame Cuba as a pretext for invasion. We're talking hijackings, bombings, and even plans to fake shoot down a passenger plane. JFK shot it down, but the declassified docs still send a shiver down your spine.
As storytellers, we craft narratives to entertain. But history shows the unseen "screenwriters" behind false flags wield stories as weapons - inciting incidents, rising tension, and fabricated evidence aimed at an audience primed to react on cue. I’m fascinated by the parallels between the roles in a film crew and the specialists who stage these elaborate plots.
The writers' room – the intelligence analysts and psychological operations officers who craft the core narrative. These folks weave real-world events with carefully constructed lies to create a story that will hold up under scrutiny.
During the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, NSA analysts played the role of writers, selectively editing signals intelligence to support the narrative of an attack despite evidence to the contrary. Their "script" set the stage for escalation in Vietnam.
Next, we have the "showrunners" – the military and intelligence leaders who oversee the entire operation. Consider figures like Reinhard Heydrich orchestrating the Gleiwitz Incident, Israel's Pinhas Lavon running point on Operation Susannah, or the Joint Chiefs authoring the Northwoods plan. These are the directors steering the ship.
Every production needs compelling dialogue. That's where government speechwriters and political advisors come in. Their job is to craft the "hero shots" – the soundbites and emotional appeals that sell the narrative to the public.
Hitler's Reichstag address post-Gleiwitz and LBJ's "We still seek no wider war" speech after Tonkin? Those were the work of speechwriters who knew how to tug heartstrings and galvanize support, even if the underlying story was pure fiction.
Now, a good narrative needs visuals. Let's talk about the art department: graphic designers whipping up fake battle plans, forged enemy communications, counterfeit uniforms – all the "props" that add realism to the tale.
For the Gleiwitz op, Nazi design teams manufactured Polish military garb and forged radio transmissions to sell the illusion of an attack. It's all about building a convincing world, whether on a film set or the global stage.
Sometimes, that world-building gets literal. The 1962 Northwoods plan included ideas for manufacturing an airliner clone, packing it with CIA agents posing as civilians, and faking a Cuban attack in mid-air. These "set designers" were ready to fabricate scenes to support the story.
Of course, you can't have a production without actors. In false flag terms, these are the operatives and agents in the field – the SS commandos playacting as Polish fighters at Gleiwitz, Israeli spies moonlighting as bombers in Cairo, or NSA analysts cosplaying as objective reporters. They're the "talent" bringing the deception to life.
Finally, every production has a marketing and distribution arm. In the false flag world, embedded journalists and media liaisons come in. As studio preps promos before a big release, Japanese-controlled newspapers had pre-written stories ready to run as soon as the Mukden "attack" hit. When the media is in on the con, the narrative spreads like wildfire.
And don't forget post-production – the "cleaners" who come in after to erase all traces of the ruse. Silenced witnesses after the Soviet Mainila shelling, destroyed documents, and "lost" evidence – it's all about maintaining the illusion.
The more you examine false flags through this production lens, the more you see the eerie parallels with the techniques we use in fiction. The difference is, in a movie, the audience knows they're suspending disbelief. With false flags, the public is an unwitting participant in the drama.
It's the stuff of a killer spy thriller, except the stakes are terrifyingly real. So next time you're watching Homeland or The Americans, ask yourself how much is fiction - and how much has already played out on the global stage, with governments as the hidden auteurs of deception.
Whether crafting a page-turner or analyzing events on the global stage, storytelling is a weapon of mass destruction. Control the narrative - shape reality.
