Should you ever be skeptical of a report from the state? Well, we already know that there have been numerous lies that later were uncovered, which should've taught us the lesson by now that we ought to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism when considering any claims the state has to sell us.
Let's cover the 3 big lies (among many) that were told by the state.
1. The Gulf of Tonkin
In 1964 the US Senate authorized escalated war in Vietnam based on (lies) claims from the intelligence community about an incident that occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin. They said that two US ships had been attacked in international waters and they immediately called for retaliation and they went on to drop dozens of bombs and radically escalate the war situation overseas.
Years later, after many lost their lives unjustly, we know that those claims were a complete fiction.
And some fear that the same tactic might be utilized in trying to push the US toward increased conflict with Iran. As Ron Paul previously stated publicly several years ago, that he was concerned that some in power might attempt to contrive a similar Gulf of Tonkin type of incident in order to rally support for an attack on Iran. Some might say we are already headed in that direction.
2. Iraq War Lies
Some people still believe that WMDs were found in Iraq and they weren't, it was just another lie.
Back in 2002, a bi-partisan group of senators had assured the US public that the intelligence community once again had solid proof that there were WMDs and those claims were used as well to dramatically escalate war in that region. Despite a report many years later by the NYT, insisting that some were found, it still didn't provide the evidence to justify the war/escalation of violence as it referenced weapons that were pre-1991. And many maintain that what the media told us about Iraq and the WMDs was incorrect.
According to an official 93-page CIA report form around 2005, which was apparently the 'credible information' from the intelligence community that was used to drum-up support for the Iraq war, it showed no operational ties between Saddam and Al Qaeda, as well as no supposed WMD programmes.
And this is a war that cost over 1 million people their lives and billions of dollars was wasted on.
3. James Clapper on NSA Spying
This has got to be one of my favorite recollections of blatant political dishonesty. It was back in 2013 and at that time Clapper was a top national security official. Clapper was asked about spying on Americans and he lied to the country and said that the NSA wasn't engaged in unconstitutional activity in spying on and collecting data on millions of Americans. This was just a few months before Snowden came forward with his documents and provided the proof to show the public that the NSA was indeed engaged in such activities.
In fact, seeing Clapper lie about it was, according to Snowden, was one of the greater motivators for him to carry out the actions that he did in revealing those documents to the public.
Government Claims Are Not Tantamount To The Truth
These reasons listed above, and more, should be reason enough that the public should refrain from rushing toward blindly accepting and believing whatever claims or narrative the intelligence community wants to present, shouldn't it? When provocative claims arise, we should consider them critically and wait to see convincing evidence on the matter first. Especially before we decide to limit the rights of individuals or engage in violence that could bring with it a heavy cost.
Pics:
imgflip
History
Deep State News
pixabay
International Business Times
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/02/vietnam-presidents-lie-to-wage-war-iraq
https://theintercept.com/2015/04/10/twelve-years-later-u-s-media-still-cant-get-iraqi-wmd-story-right/
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/conservatives-continue-get-iraqi-wmd-story-wrong
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7634313/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/cias-final-report-no-wmd-found-iraq/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-glyn-williams/at-least-trump-got-one-thing-right_b_9612422.html
http://www.globalresearch.ca/concocting-lies-before-iraq-war/5521468
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_R._Clapper