Editing False flag (section)

==As a tactic to undermine political opponents==

===Operation TPAJAX===
{{Main|1953 Iranian coup d'état}}
On 4 April 1953, the [[CIA]] was ordered to undermine the government of Iran over a four-month period, as a precursor to overthrowing Prime Minister [[Mohammad Mosaddegh]]. One tactic used to undermine Mosaddegh was to carry out false flag attacks "on mosques and key public figures", to be blamed on Iranian communists loyal to the government.<ref name="Callanan2009">{{cite book |last=Callanan |first=James |title=Covert Action in the Cold War: US Policy, Intelligence and CIA Operations |date=30 November 2009 |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |isbn=978-0857711663 |location=London |pages=115}}</ref>

The CIA operation was code-named [[TPAJAX]]. The tactic of a "directed campaign of bombings by Iranians posing as members of the Communist party" involved the bombing of "at least one" well known Muslim's house by CIA agents posing as Communists.<ref name="Risen2000">{{cite news |last=Risen |first=James |title=SECRETS OF HISTORY: The C.I.A. in Iran — A Special Report; How a Plot Convulsed Iran in '53 (and in '79) |date=2000-04-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/16/world/secrets-history-cia-iran-special-report-plot-convulsed-iran-53-79.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-08-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722014228/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/16/world/secrets-history-cia-iran-special-report-plot-convulsed-iran-53-79.html?src=pm&pagewanted=1 |archive-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> The CIA determined that the tactic of false flag attacks added to the "positive outcome" of [[TPAJAX]].<ref name="Callanan2009"/>

However, as "the C.I.A. burned nearly all of its files on its role in the 1953 coup in Iran", the true extent of the tactic has been difficult for historians to discern.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiner |first=Tim |title=C.I.A. Destroyed Files on 1953 Iran Coup |date=1997-05-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/29/us/cia-destroyed-files-on-1953-iran-coup.html |access-date=2024-08-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116101540/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/29/us/cia-destroyed-files-on-1953-iran-coup.html |archive-date=16 November 2020}}</ref>

===Operation Susannah===
{{Main|Lavon Affair}}
In the summer of 1954, a group of Egyptian Jews recruited by Israeli army intelligence were caught with plans to bomb American, British, and Egyptian civil targets in Egypt. The bombs were timed to detonate several hours after closing time. The bombings were to be blamed on the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], Egyptian [[Communists]], "unspecified malcontents", or "local nationalists", with the aim of creating a climate of sufficient violence and instability to induce the British government to refrain from evacuating its troops occupying Egypt's [[Suez Canal]] zone, a move that would embolden [[Egyptian President]] [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser]] against Israel. However, the plot was exposed before launch and Egyptian authorities tailed an operative to his target, arrest him, and later search his apartment where the entire plan, including the names of other agents and explosive materials, was held. Unknown to Israel Prime Minister [[Moshe Sharet]], the exposé caused a scandal in Israel, with Israeli officials blaming one another for the operation and the Israeli defense minister, [[Pinhas Lavon]], resigning under pressure. Later, two investigative committees found that Lavon was unaware of the operation.<ref>{{cite book |title=The encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli conflict: a political, social, and military history |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2008 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaarab00tuck/page/n685 610] |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaarab00tuck |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="BlackMorris1992">{{cite book |title=Israel's secret wars: a history of Israel's intelligence services |last1=Black |first1=Ian |last2=Morris |first2=Benny |date=1 June 1992 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=978-0-8021-3286-4 |page=111 |author-link1=Ian Black (journalist) |author-link2=Benny Morris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WFm21j2sZBAC |access-date=19 June 2011}}</ref><ref name="Teveth">{{cite book |title=Ben-Gurion's spy: the story of the political scandal that shaped modern Israel |author=S. Teveth |date=1996 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-10464-7 |page=81}}</ref>