# Americans awake to a major terrorist attack: How many of us automatically suspect a false flag? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 18, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146 "2017-02-18T14:44:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/21 "2017-02-18T20:15:58Z")
It never even occurred to me. I guess we’ll see how events progress, but at this point I just don’t see it as likely. -Trump can’t formulate a sentence, let alone a plan -His administration leaks like a sieve with extra holes poked in it -He’s pissed off the intelligence community and the press How exactly would he organize this? Russia has been mentioned. I suppose that’s about the only option. Then what we have is really a Russian attack on US soil, which is WW III. I don’t think Russia is that stupid, even if Trump or Bannon asked for their help. ---
**Author:** ![Dickerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Dickerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dickerman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/22 "2017-02-18T20:43:22Z")
Considering that the ratio of actual terrorist attacks to false flag attacks is very high, I’d think it foolish (though that’s not really the right word) to assume the next one isn’t real. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/23 "2017-02-18T21:17:02Z")
Yeah, put me down on the side of assuming it’s real but fearing it will be spun to nefarious ends. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/24 "2017-02-18T21:32:03Z")
If ever there were a President with the intelligence, discretion, and close ties to the US intelligence community to bring this off, it’s Trump. Or not. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/25 "2017-02-18T21:37:29Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Can’t buy it for the same reason (on a much smaller scale) that I can’t buy the Apollo moon landing hoax. It would take too many people, working in too organized a fashion, to remain secret for very long. Some high ranking people have claimed that the [Russian apartment bombings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings#Theory_of_Russian_government_conspiracy) were a false flag operation designed to justify an invasion of Chechnya and help propel Putin to power. That is a known conspiracy, just because people suspect something was a false flag doesn’t mean that everyone agrees it is a false flag. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/26 "2017-02-18T21:58:05Z")
The OP says “_suspect_”, not “_assume_” a false flag. I am imagining there would be a lot more skepticism these days, especially if it was more of a Bataclan scale. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/27 "2017-02-18T22:32:11Z")
I wouldn’t consider it. First of all, I don’t believe this gang has anywhere remotely close to the capability of pulling it off, and it’s way more unlikely than that, even, that they could attempt a false-flag terrorist attack without leaving their fingerprints all over it. They’d need the help of our cloak-and-dagger types, and relations between them and the White House are impressively bad these days. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/28 "2017-02-19T00:11:03Z")
Riiiiight…Because Trump has done such a great job getting the intelligence community on his side. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/29 "2017-02-19T00:21:28Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Riiiiight…Because Trump has done such a great job getting the intelligence community on his side. Yeah, but have you considered that the tiff between Trump and the Intel Agencies is… _ **a false flag!!???** _ ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/30 "2017-02-19T01:21:34Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Um… > [Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2016](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist_incidents_in_Iraq_in_2016) > [Terrorist incidents in Syria in 2016](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents_in_Syria#2016) > [Terrorist incidents in Somalia in 2016](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Terrorist_incidents_in_Somalia_in_2016) > > Wiki doesn’t have a handy catch-all page for Yemen but there were deadly attacks there in March and July last year too. One in Sudan last March. One in Libya last January. And just last June the [state department](http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/02/politics/state-department-report-terrorism/) released a report stating that Iran is the top state sponsor of terror. > > Did the terrorists from these countries kill Americans? No. But the common refrain that there are “no” terrorists in any of the seven countries on the list, and therefore nothing to worry about, is naïve. Would you like to see a list of terrorist incidents in the American states in 1775-83? Did that make America “a state sponsor or terrorism”? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/31 "2017-02-19T03:57:11Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Given 1) the rhetoric coming out of the White House about how all of our lives are under constant threat, 2) the (perhaps intentional) failure of Trump’s travel ban, 3) Trump’s need to be worshipped as a hero, and 4) the cries of impeachment seem to only be getting louder, it would be foolish to NOT suspect a false flag attack. And I’d expect an immediate investigation to make absolutely sure that it isn’t. > > I’m curious if I’m the only person who’d feel this way. > . There is no way _anyone_ would agree to any false flag that would actually kill any Americans. It’s inconceivable. Now, just something blowing up, no one really hurt? I’d be suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/32 "2017-02-19T04:07:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yeah, but have you considered that the tiff between Trump and the Intel Agencies is… _ **a false flag!!???** _ Well, even if there is a terrorist attack, the “fake news” won’t report it. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/33 "2017-02-19T04:07:44Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > And with Trump, well, it’s hard to see the country rallying around him as a whole even if another Pearl Harbor happened. I think this debate is silly and wishful thinking personally. What some of you are asking is simply Hey do you think Donald Trump would outright murder his own countrymen for shits and giggles. Just ask the question with out goofy scenarios. As for you idea? Let us suppose someone pulls off a devastating terrorist attack. They carefully pick a target guaranteed to kill 7000 women and children and how ever many non women and children. Trump says I’m going to kill them. I bet you will be on a bench by your self, because no one at that point will care a bit over political parties etc at that point, they will want blood and be more than happy to help Trump get it for them. On the morning of 9/11 if you could have transported all of NY city to the middle east and armed them, they would have slaughtered everyone they could get their hands on, and most of the rest of the country would have been right behind them. Rules Laws and Humanity be damned. And would i suspect an inside job false flag what ever? No, that would be science fiction. This isn’t the 3rd Reich. You would never get enough people either on board or to shut up in EITHER party to attempt to pull it off. And it’s very hard to explain why 5/6ths of the government has disappeared or been mysteriously murdered in strange circumstances all of the sudden. Even terrorists could not pull that one off. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/34 "2017-02-19T04:27:14Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > And with Trump, well, it’s hard to see the country rallying around him as a whole even if another Pearl Harbor happened. Of course, Frankie forced Pearl Harbor. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/35 "2017-02-19T05:14:31Z")
I think it depends what counts as “false flag”. Something like Die Hard 2 where a group of American military people are convinced, purely for fanatical political reasons, to murder a bunch of innocent Americans? No way. But start changing variables… have the attack only cause property damage, have the American involvement only be on the back end somewhere. Well… I’m still very very skeptical. On the other hand, “skeptical” and “Trump” have turned out to be incompatible concepts… ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/36 "2017-02-19T05:27:18Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > What some of you are asking is simply Hey do you think Donald Trump would outright murder his own countrymen for shits and giggles. No, we’re asking is “Would Donald Trump outright murder his own countrymen because he thought it was a good idea, that the ends justified the means, that it would bring him attention and power, because he was duped into it by people like Bannon, or he believed the people he was killing were less important–even dangerous “enemy of the people” liberals,say–than white billionaires?” Sure, the answer’s _probably_ “no,” but we’re talking about a man who has–over and over again–proven himself not to care about anything but himself and his perceived needs in a fictional reality, no matter the cost to others. The fact that we’re even really asking the question–that there’s any doubt at all–shows how very far we’ve fallen putting this man in office. ETA: And he’s very, very good at attributing his own failings and actions to others. In a nutshell, you can summarize every action he’s taken to date into one of these categories: It’s the Mexicans’ fault, it’s the Muslims’ fault, it’s Obama’s fault, it’s the press’ fault. It’s an overused comparison these days, but it reminds me…a lot…of another historical figure, and that’s what we’re all worried about. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/37 "2017-02-19T13:16:35Z")
I suspect a false flag in “what’s happening in Sweden last night”. But then, Sweden is a closed society, so there is always a lot of speculation about what goes on in their secret inner workings. But I’m surprised that Trump leaked it to the media. That seemed pretty careless. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/38 "2017-02-19T13:34:06Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I suspect a false flag in “what’s happening in Sweden last night”. But then, Sweden is a closed society, so there is always a lot of speculation about what goes on in their secret inner workings. But I’m surprised that Trump leaked it to the media. That seemed pretty careless. eh? Followed by several more ‘ehs?’ at regular intervals through the paragraph. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/39 "2017-02-19T13:45:24Z")
It really doesn’t matter. Many Americans — I am making no judgement here, because I can be ignorant too on many subjects — have so little knowledge of foreign countries and their strange ways, that Trumpo could tell his supporters [whom are not that way because of him, since before they voted variously for Ronnie, Bill, any available Bush, Obama, Hillary etc. etc. and remained resolutely ignorant throughout] that the French dance with baboons on festive summer days, and they would still be believing it 50 years later, because they trust the president more than easily ascertainable facts. There’s something rotten in the state of Sweden. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146/40 "2017-02-19T13:48:46Z")
Denmark. Americans know shit about Hamlet, as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-awake-to-a-major-terrorist-attack-how-many-of-us-automatically-suspect-a-false-flag/780146.md?page=3)