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January 31, 2004
Roundup of "undead" stories?
While I am very skeptical of conspiracy theories, the fact is that occasionally, there are unexplained conspiracies. By definition, unexplained conspiracies (until they are explained) logically demand the utilization of (for lack of a better phrase) conspiracy theories as a tool of examination. There is no question that terrorism -- whether domestic or international -- always involves a conspiracy. In attempting to analyze unsettled and vexing stories, I try to avoid the following common pitfalls: With that in mind, I want to briefly examine (and provide a roundup of stories on) topic which Glenn Reynolds called the "potential for cooperation between Arab terrorists and domestic extremists." It touches on a very troubling story which has not gone away, and won't go away until it is thoroughly investigated: possible connections between Iraq and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. There are numerous conspiracy theories floating around, and some of them are simply nuts. But what I have noticed is that there are too many reports from ordinary, non-conspiracy-minded citizens. Too many to be ignored (even though the conventional wisdom seems to be to ignore them). Like this one in the Ether Zone (which I seriously suggest reading in its entirety): We, as American citizens, had a right to know that the Iraqi regime was directly implicated in a second terrorist act upon American soil, the first occurring two years prior at the Twin Towers, NYC (1993). With that pivotal knowledge, the American people could have geared up for the "war on terrorism" much sooner, and possibly even averted the 9/11 disaster. Clearly, the Justice Department, under the direct auspices of Bill Clinton and his lackeys Janet Reno and Eric Holder, chose to represent the Oklahoma City bombing as a solely domestic conspiracy, eschewing all indications of Iraqi involvement. It’s bad enough that Clinton patently ignored overseas terrorist assaults on American assets in the 1990’s (Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, our Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, USS Cole in Aden, Yemen, etc.). But to deep-six evidence of an Iraqi connection to the Oklahoma City bombing is no less than mind-boggling, totally egregious. Moreover, if the entire plot had been exposed, the American public would have pressured Bill Clinton to take appropriate military action against Iraq, whether he liked it or not. And I’m not talking about hitting another camel in the rear with an expensive cruise missile. There would have been calls for all-out war against Saddam Hussein’s regime. I really don’t think that was part of Bill Clinton’s agenda while in office. Remember, he had his eye on that Nobel Peace Prize for brokering an Israeli-Palestinian accord that never materialized.There are countless other stories -- from Los Angeles (twice), to London, from the liberal Salon, to the right-wing NewsMax, to the far-right WorldNetDaily (at least twice). TalkLeft explores this tantalizing theory -- even comparing photograph of Jose Padilla with the police sketch of "John Doe 2." Then there's Oklahoma City journalist Jayna Davis -- whose reporting had to be vindicated in court! (Getting sued is quite a deterrent for most journalists, no matter how interested they are in a story....) But hey, some of those stubborn Oklahoma journalists just won't stop digging! And what did happen to Senator Arlen Specter's investigation? Does anyone know? Of course, there are also articles denying the allegations in these reports: here's one by a member of McVeigh's "federal appellate team". Indymedia scoffs at any McVeigh Iraq connection too! Then there's this intriguing comment by McVeigh himself: Remember Dresden? How about Hanoi? Tripoli? Baghdad? What about the big ones -- Hiroshima and Nagasaki? (At these two locations, the U.S. killed at least 150,000 non-combatants -- mostly women and children -- in the blink of an eye. Thousands more took hours, days, weeks, or months to die.)McVeigh's (well, his alleged) moral equivalency masterpiece was written in 1998 -- and directed at Clinton. (Interesting too, how leftists have also tried to blame Gulf War I for OKC.) Had Timmy lived, he could now be writing for Indymedia -- or MoveOn.org! Well why not? Besides, the McVeigh execution always seemed a bit hurried to me. (Allegations that his conviction was aided by false testimony emerged in May. Too late for a stay of execution now, eh?) The most common reason given for hurrying the execution was "closure" -- said to be synonymous with the needs of McVeigh's victims. McVeigh's lawyer, Steven Jones, is someone I can't just ignore, and he simply, steadfastly, refuses to shut up: The execution of Timothy McVeigh helped bring a feeling of closure to the family and friends of the 168 people killed in 1995 in the Oklahoma City bombing. But McVeigh's lawyer, Stephen Jones, cautions that if the government thinks it convicted the chief suspect in the Oklahoma City bombing, it got the wrong man.Comfortable lies sometimes offer more closure than uncomfortable truths. But believing a lie, or cutting off inquiry into the truth, simply to have "closure" -- that is not a logical approach.
Fascinating stuff -- and very, very hard to ignore. posted by Eric on 01.31.04 at 04:20 PM
Comments
Interesting. I have no idea what to make of all this. Only a couple thoughts: 1) On the matter of McVeigh and the OKC bombing: It always smelled "Reichstag fire" to me. Clinton and the mass media cast the net as wide as possible, launching a "witch-hunt" against "militias", blaming Rightist talk radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh, George Gordon Battle Liddy, and Leonard Peikoff, and every gun owner, Rightist, libertarian, or conservative as child-killers. 2) Your honesty. "...the temptation of being adversely influenced by emotions instead of logic (loud and ugly tones, or harsh rhetoric make me distrustful; reasonable tones engender trust and can create illusions of truth)..." Steven Malcolm Anderson · February 3, 2004 12:12 AM |
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I certainly share your unease with conspiracy theories but I agree that there are too many questions unanswered or answered unsatisfactorily about this. Laurie Mylroie believes Kalid Sheik Mohammed and Ramzi Yousef are Iraqi Intelligence who at the outset of Saddam's invasion of Kuwait dummied new IDs for themselves. It seems like a stretch to me some days, then some days I buy it. Also James Patterson in the Indianapolis Star has a whole series of articles about this: Jayna Davis, Nicholls trips to the Phillipines, the whole shebang. Maybe we'll get the truth, someday.
http://www.indystar.com/library/topics/opinion/patterson/okcity.html