by R.J. Giuffre

Created on: September 16, 2009   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

Any assertion that we as a nation are safer after of the events which took place on 9/11/01 are patently ridiculous. In fact, I would venture to say that we as Americans are in more danger than prior to that horrible day. The sad truth of the matter is that since 9/11 more people across the world hate this nation than ever before, mainly because of the actions taken by our government using the World Trade Center attacks as a pretext for war.

Even more frightening than the danger we face from foreign nations is the danger we face from our own government, who has also used the events of 9/11 as a pretext to take our liberties from us and slowly destroy our Constitution.

There are those who believe that our own government either carried out the attacks which took place on 9/11, or allowed them to happen. Taking into account the actions of our government following those attacks lend credence to these beliefs. As any High School History teacher will tell you, those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. So questions must arise based upon the past, and upon the government's actions.

Has our government ever used an erroneous event as a pretext for war? Unfortunately, and surprisingly to many people, the answer is 'yes'. In order to garner public opinion to enter the Vietnam War, the U.S. Government staged and reported an attack on a U.S. Navy vessel in the Gulf of Tonkin. That attack never happened, yet it served as the pretext for a long, expensive and demoralizing war. That is not an opinion, it is documented fact.

Has our Government ever allowed an attack on our country to happen in order to enter a war? Again, the answer to this question is shockingly 'yes'. What's worse is that it has happened more than once! In 1915 the luxury cruise liner RMS Lusitania was set to voyage from New York to Great Britain. The cruise was set to depart on May 1st and sail through war zone waters.

In April of 1915, alongside an advertisement for the May voyage, the German Government placed an ad informing potential passengers of the danger of sailing on a British flagged vessel, which had been fitted with gun mounts and was listed as an Armed Merchant Cruiser through a war zone. The U.S. Government was warned of the danger to the vessel due to its planned route, yet those warnings went disregarded.

On May 7, 1915 the Lusitania, while sailing through war zone waters, even though a shorter route which avoided those waters was available, was hit by a German torpedo.

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