Proschema

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Proschema (plural proschemata) is the Greek term for "pretext" or "alleged reason," often applied specifically to a government's publically stated reasons for waging a war. These stated reasons may or may not be the actual reason for waging the war. The term was first popularized by Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War, who identified fear, honor, and interest as the three primary "real" reasons that wars are waged, while prophases commonly play up nationalism or fearmongering (as opposed to rational or reasonable fears).

In the current Iraq War, many believe that the Bush administration's actual reasons for war do not coincide with the prophases, which included a belief in Iraq's possession of, and imminent threat to use, weapons of mass destruction. The actual reasons are, of course, still being debated, but the failure thus far of American troops to locate weapons of mass destruction suggests the Bush administration exploited the public's fear to garner support for their actual aims, or prophases.