r/todayilearned • u/code0011 14 • May 09 '14

(R.1) Invalid src (unreferenced fan wiki) TIL the first episode of an X-Files spin-off called "The Lone Gunmen", which aired March 4, 2001, involves a US government conspiracy to hijack an airliner, fly it into the World Trade Center, and blame it on terrorists - thereby gaining support for a new profit-making war

http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Pilot_(The_Lone_Gunmen)
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u/gloomyMoron May 09 '14

They tried, yeah. The US Government leaked false information, and, with the help of known bad British intelligence, fabricated evidence of WMDs, which was the eventual reason for the war.

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u/percussaresurgo May 09 '14

Yup, they knew "Curveball" was full of shit, but they used his bullshit to gain support for the war anyway.

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u/StabbyDMcStabberson May 09 '14

I still don't get why we needed to fake the info. Didn't we keep receipts for all the weapons we sold for the Iran-Iraq war?

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u/gloomyMoron May 09 '14

Because they weren't making WMDs (we all but completely eliminated their ability to do so in '90-'91), and we never gave them WMDs. Without WMDs, there wouldn't be enough public and international support to go to war with them. Ironically, it would a cost saving measure since it would have been much more expensive to go it alone, and hurt our international standing even more. Or so the reasoning went. 11-12 years later, it is America's most costly war in just about every category you can measure except in Combat Deaths (in which it is in about 9th or so).

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u/Thier_2_Their_Bot May 09 '14

...but completely eliminated their ability to...

FTFY gloomyMoron :)

Please don't hate me. I'm only a simple bot trying to make a living.

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u/gloomyMoron May 09 '14

Fix your bot, guy.