The Trojan Horse commonly used today to apply to virus infection techniques, is sourced to the era of the battle for Troy and how the city was compromised from within by the acceptance of the wooden horse left at its gate by the Greek army. From Wikipedia:
The Greek siege of Troy had lasted for ten years. The Greeks devised a new ruse - a giant hollow wooden horse. It was built by Epeius and filled with Greek warriors led by Odysseus. The rest of the Greek army appeared to leave whilst actually hiding behind Tenedos and the Trojans accepted the horse as a peace offering. A Greek spy, Sinon, convinced the Trojans the horse was a gift despite the warnings of Laocoon and Cassandra. Helen and Deiphobus even investigated the horse. The Trojans celebrated the raising of the siege hugely, and when the Greeks emerged from the horse the city was in a drunken stupor. The Greek warriors opened the city gates to allow the rest of the army access and the city was ruthlessly pillaged - all the men were killed and all the women taken into slavery.
Wikipedia entry: Trojan Horse
The trojan horse symbolizes those things which on the surface appear to be one thing, yet internally serve a completely different purpose.
Definition from Princeton University WordNet:
The noun "trojan horse" has 3 senses in WordNet.
1. fifth column, Trojan horse -- (a subversive group that supports the enemy and engages in espionage or sabotage; an enemy in your midst)
2. trojan, trojan horse -- (a program that appears desirable but actually contains something harmful; "the contents of a trojan can be a virus or a worm"; "when he downloaded the free game it turned out to be a trojan horse")
3. Trojan Horse, Wooden Horse -- (a large hollow wooden figure of a horse (filled with Greek soldiers) left by the Greeks outside Troy during the Trojan War)
Another example, is The Fifth Column. The term is used to identify a secret group which works to undermine the society while focus is on another external foe. Spies or sympathizers for a cause or group can infiltrate a country, government, or critical position and undermine the ability of that which has been infiltrated. Again, from Wikipedia:
Fifth column refers to any clandestine group of people which works covertly inside a nation to undermine its strength (psychological warfare) while the nation is simultaneously suffering an overt attack by a foreign power or another faction in a civil war.
The term was coined by General Emilio Mola in a radio address during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). As a Nationalist general, he sent four army columns to capture Madrid, which was being defended at that time by the Republican forces. The general referred to his hidden supporters inside the capital as his fifth column.
Wikipedia entry: Fifth Column
A Fifth Column is not necessarily restricted to human assets. Today, it could very well be technological and biological assets such as Ethnic Specific Weapons.
Okay, so now we get to what these mean to the American Empire.
An online editorial appearing at t r u t h o u t points out how America has gone through a series of stages where the global reach has been extended to the point of building an empire much like the Spanish and British empires. The article, "The Third Stage of American Empire" by William Rivers Pitt, presents the following observations:
The first stage of this American empire began with the Mexican-American war, but began to flourish at the conclusion of the Civil War. All the states east of the Mississippi River had been brought by force back under the rule of the federal government, a national taxation system had been established to provide revenues to that government, and the nascent outlines of what Eisenhower described as 'the military/industrial complex' had been built by the lucrative contracts handed out to arm, clothe and feed the military.
The transition between the first and second stages began on April 2nd, 1917, when newly re-elected President Wilson reversed his campaign theme of staying out of the European conflict and asked congress for a declaration of war against Germany. Previously, Americans had defined themselves in no small part by being separated from the troubles of the 'Old World.' When the doughboys shipped out, however, that line of demarcation was crossed.
Despite the eventual victory in Europe, the second stage took many more years to flower and flourish. American armies and navies were essentially dismantled in the aftermath of the 'War to End All Wars,' and the 1930s saw the near-collapse of the American economic system. The advent of and eventual victory in World War II not only cemented the second stage, but resurrected and forever changed the fundamental underpinnings of the American economy. From that victory to now, the American economy has been based centrally on preparation for and fighting of wars.
By the end of World War II, the influence of the American empire stretched throughout Europe to the borders of the new foe, the Soviet empire. Strongholds of the second stage could be likewise found in Africa, the Japanese mainland and many Pacific islands and, with the creation of the state of Israel, the strategically-vital Middle East. American corporations that had built the victorious war machine swam in an ocean of profits. The 'military/industrial complex' was about to become the dominant force in domestic and global commerce, conflict and social structure.
Contracts for the development and deployment of weaponry became profitable on an epic scale. The military/industrial complex came to own whole swaths of the American political spectrum on both sides of the aisle, and attached itself umbilically to the petroleum industry as a matter of basic expediency. One cannot fight wars without an abundance of oil and gasoline, and after a fashion, the means and the ends became indistinguishable.
When the Berlin Wall finally fell, when the Soviet empire finally imploded, the banner for this third stage was unfurled for all to see. For the first time in history since the apex of Roman rule, one nation and one government and one military ruled supreme over the known world. The movement conservatives, having lost communism as the main target for their energies and ire, turned inward and laid siege to their fellow citizens. The ultimate goal of this was to purge from debate and consideration anyone who did not approve of empire, and anyone who did not fit the Christian Reconstructionist mold they wished to build American society around.
The rise of George W. Bush, leader of the evangelical/political wing of American Christianity since 1996, to the office of the president has been the fulfillment of the dreams of movement conservatives. September 11 cemented their ascendancy. Now, permanent war and rule by fear are accepted without question. Now, the news media owned by the combine opens the public dialogue to these radicals while painting them as moderate, rational Americans. Now, the dominance of the military/industrial/petroleum combine is unquestioned. Now, the idea that America is engaged in a holy war has been widely disseminated.
So, what is the American Empire's trojan horse? Its fifth column?
The Neocons? The Military-Industrial Complex?
Could it be some group who, behind the scenes, is influencing the agendas of each?
Who could that be???
The Controllers
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