The American battleship Maine exploded in Havana Harbor 113 years ago today; 266 of the 350 men on board were killed. A torpedo was blamed, the news media hyperventilated, and by April the peace-loving Americans had declared war on Spain. When the war ended, Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam belonged to the U.S.
It’s now believed the explosion was the result of a fire in a coal bunker on board the ship; that is, a self-inflicted accident.
News media leading us to war with erroneous information about weapons and attacks. At least that could happen today.
At least that couldn’t happen today, perhaps?
And while the media helped, it was the folks out promoting their books now who made the decision to invade countries which did not pose a clear and present danger.
Nothing new there, sadly: instead of being stood up against a wall and given a blindfold, you have people like Oliver North hosting talk shows and, yes, writing books.