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Out of curiosity, what is your opinion on things like Operation Northwoods? [1] Operation Northwoods was a plan for US intelligence agencies to engage in terror

Out of curiosity, what is your opinion on things like Operation Northwoods? [1] Operation Northwoods was a plan for US intelligence agencies to engage in terrorist activity against Americans, and then blame it on Cuba as a means of justifying war. It was formulated by our intelligence agencies and approved by the joint chiefs of staff. Literally the only reason this did not happen is because one person, JFK, chose not to sign off on it. Or perhaps what the FBI did to MLK? After spying on him and discovering his 'sexual deviancy' they posed as a black supporter and tried to blackmail and shame him into suicide. [2] We don't tend to learn about these things until decades after they happen since they're heavily classified. And I imagine if Operation Northwoods went ahead, it's the sort of action that might have ended up with no paper trail at all. And so we can look back and say 'oh that was 50 years ago, we're so very different now.' Yet of course, after our secrets are revealed beyond doubt 50 years from now people will almost certainly be aghast at the things we are doing, yet will consider themselves beyond such a point since after all 'that was 50 years ago, we're so very different now.' And to be clear here I am in no way implying anything one way or the other about Cheney. This is a more general question that I'm quite curious about. What I am stating is that our government, which is made up of individuals, has an extremely rich history of Machiavellian behavior, even when such behavior is extremely unethical. To think that the individuals within government are somehow all, independently, reasonably good people is not really logical. Though I suppose JFK, at least, we can be sure was probably a good person. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods [2] - https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/11/fbis-suicide-letter-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-and-dangers-unchecked-surveillance https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/11/fbis-suicide-letter-dr...

tootie 8y ago
Neither of those things happened. Think about it. How many journalists or whistleblowers in the US actually ever die under remotely suspicious circumstances? The US government couldn't even muster the will to actually try to get James Risen to divulge his source even after they won their case in the SC to do so.
- TangoTrotFox 8y ago
  These are literally declassified government documents. Both of these things did very much happen. It's the interesting thing about politics today. The media, which tends to be extremely cooperate with establishment politics, has left us with an electorate who is mostly unaware of anything except for a narrow range of convenient topics.
  - tootie 8y ago
    Plans were written, they didn't happen. We had a plan to invade Canada too.
    - TangoTrotFox 8y ago
      The efforts to try to see the death of MLK enacted did happen! The "plan to invade Canada" was a hypothetical concept about what to do should the British Empire have declared war on America in the early 20th century. They would likely have used Canada as a staging point for invasion. Operation Northwoods by contrast was an active mission that was formulated, planned, and we were looking to imminently carry out as it made it's way all the way through the chain of command. It was literally one signature from being executed. If we had a different president than JFK the US intelligence agencies would have engaged in terrorist killings of US civilians and we'd likely have never heard about this, instead perhaps having a somber national holiday to remember the great losses the day that 'Cuban forces' attacked America.

tootie 8y ago

Neither of those things happened. Think about it. How many journalists or whistleblowers in the US actually ever die under remotely suspicious circumstances? The US government couldn't even muster the will to actually try to get James Risen to divulge his source even after they won their case in the SC to do so.

TangoTrotFox 8y ago
These are literally declassified government documents. Both of these things did very much happen. It's the interesting thing about politics today. The media, which tends to be extremely cooperate with establishment politics, has left us with an electorate who is mostly unaware of anything except for a narrow range of convenient topics.
- tootie 8y ago
  Plans were written, they didn't happen. We had a plan to invade Canada too.
  - TangoTrotFox 8y ago
    The efforts to try to see the death of MLK enacted did happen! The "plan to invade Canada" was a hypothetical concept about what to do should the British Empire have declared war on America in the early 20th century. They would likely have used Canada as a staging point for invasion. Operation Northwoods by contrast was an active mission that was formulated, planned, and we were looking to imminently carry out as it made it's way all the way through the chain of command. It was literally one signature from being executed. If we had a different president than JFK the US intelligence agencies would have engaged in terrorist killings of US civilians and we'd likely have never heard about this, instead perhaps having a somber national holiday to remember the great losses the day that 'Cuban forces' attacked America.