Vic Ratsma

A Trojan Horse is an item or an event that is made to look like ONE thing, but in reality is a cover for something else. One could say, sort of like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

For ten years, the Greeks had laid a siege to the city of Troy without success of getting into the city, or getting Helen (Helen of Troy, purported to be the most beautiful women in the world – VR) back. The layout and build of the city walls made this very ancient metropolis impenetrable. After Achilles left the war, the Greek’s progress slowed to almost a dead stop. Troy was not going to be taken by sheer numbers.

The Trojans, led by Hector, began to repel the Greeks. Eventually the Greeks were driven back to their own ships. Achilles rejoined the battle, and killed Hector to avenge a good friend’s death. Greek morale shot through the roof!

The Greeks needed a war machine. The siege machines of that time weren’t getting the Greeks anywhere. They needed something new. So the Greeks devised a plan and put it work.

The Greeks built a giant wooden horse with a hollow belly. An armful of Greeks climbed into the hollow opening and sealed it up. Meanwhile, the rest of the Greek Army piled into their ships and sailed away. Due to a convincing Greek spy, the Trojans came out of Troy to receive the huge horse as an offering of peace. The Trojans rejoiced at the thought that the Greek army was running away like dogs!

The Trojans then decided to celebrate. By nightfall the whole city was in a drunken uproar. They celebrated far into the night. In the small hours of the morning, while everyone was drunk and asleep, the Greeks unsealed the belly of the wooden horse, and climbed down from it. Silently, they killed the Trojan sentries at all of the city gates. The gates were then opened to the bulk of the Greek army. In their drunken stupor, the Trojans did not see the Greek fleet return to their shores.

Now the Greeks were finally inside the city, after ten years of useless battles. The Greeks finally had their chance of capturing victory. They slaughtered men and boys alike. The women and girls were kept and later sold as slaves. By daylight, everyone was either dead, or in bondage."

The events described above took place between 1500-1200 BCC, but the story seems to have lost none of its significance. In today’s context we can detect Trojan horses also, albeit in a more modern form as is the case in former Soviet Union.

But, picture the Americans as today’s equivalent of the ancient Greeks and the city of Troy are the oil resources of Central Asia. For years, unable to access these resources, a strategy was needed to get inside, i.e. a kind of modern wooden horse.

Now, consider the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. There are so many unanswered questions of exactly what happened on September 11th, 2001 and so much circumstantial evidence of U.S. foreknowledge and indeed complicity in this attack, that the existence here of a Trojan horse may be more than imaginary.

Now, a weak and unpopular president suddenly sees a huge increase in his popular support. The people are with him and American flags are flying everywhere (just like the increased morale of the Greeks) and the doors of Troy (oil) are open.

George W. Bush & Co. are now taking full advantage of this support, and also the sympathy with the victims that was generated at home and abroad, to threaten many nations and send their military troops everywhere in the world where they perceive a strategic or economic interest, all under the guise of fighting terrorism (the Trojan horse). And, until now, with relatively unquestioned international support, but only with limited resistance.

This comparison does not end here!

The Trojans accepted the wooden horse as an offering of peace. Today, many countries are being lured by so-called U.S. aid to improve the living conditions of their people and their country. But, when these countries wake up, they will discover that they have become subservient to the conquerors and also to their institutions like the IMF, World Bank, WTO, NATO etc.

And inside the city (country), any country, remember: "You are either with us or you’re with the terrorists", and like Troy, everyone will be either dead or in bondage (to Uncle Sam).

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