It certainly wouldn't be the first time a ruler engaged in such a strategy. In fact, it's a time-honored way to get people to set aside their rebellion and instead "rally 'round the flag."

Consider the immortal words of James Madison, the father of the Constitution: "The means of defense against foreign danger have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended."

Madison was saying that in the old Roman Empire the populace would periodically go into rebellion mode, rebelling against things like exorbitant taxation or monetary debasement at the hands of their rulers.

Whenever that would happen, the emperor would simply instigate a war against some scary foreign enemy, which would stir up both fear and patriotism within the populace. People would forget their rebellion in order to be kept safe from the new official enemy with which they were now at war.

Recall that at the end of the Cold War, most Americans were calling for a "peace dividend." What they meant was that they were protesting the enormously high amount of money that was still being spent on the national-security establishment. They were demanding a "peace dividend" that would entail a massive reduction in national-security-state spending, which would have meant an equally massive reduction in taxes.

But notice what happened as soon as the 9/11 attacks took place. Most everyone put their "peace-dividend" demands aside and, amidst a climate of great fear and patriotism, called on the federal government to do whatever was necessary to keep them safe. The demands for a "peace dividend" disappeared permanently. The national-security establishment has been flooded with taxpayer largess ever since.

Let's not forget what brought about those 9/11 attacks. No, it wasn't hatred for America's "freedom and values," as U.S. officials maintained. It was instead what Madison said. Faced with demands for a "peace dividend," U.S. officials had gone into the Middle East on a spree of death, destruction and humiliation, which ultimately generated so much anger and hatred that it produced retaliation in the form of the 9/11 attacks.