Conspiracy

“It is impossible to reign in innocence. All kings are rebels and usurpers.”

~ Louis Antoine de Saint-Just

The 20th century was the age of communication, and it makes sense that the 21st should follow in its footsteps. The United States, after its fiasco in Vietnam, has fine-tuned its approach in this arena and is now polishing its propaganda just as carefully as it develops its military. But every conflict gives rise to opposing interests, lobbyists butting heads and contradictory ideas that spin infinite speculations. This, too, is obvious: They are presented with a public opinion that accepts arguments drawn from the dark depths of collective memory or from extremely specialized study or from events that seem to possibly have some sort of connection with the idea in question.

Thus, to support his cause, Hitler uncovered the old theory of a Jewish conspiracy based on the infamous “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” and the lack of diversity in television studios could back him up. The murder of JFK gave weight to the same theory, because later investigations uncovered the criminal minds of the Texan oil lobbyists who ran the fiendish machine, and with the vice president’s consent too. The attacks of Sept. 11 continue the tradition with the creation of an abundance of literature proliferated through the Internet, which reveal all the anomalies within the official record: the presence of explosives in the foundation of the World Trade Center, the lack of an actual plane crash at the Pentagon, the Pennsylvania plane’s explosion in midair. … These conspiracy theories are all even more ingrained and reinforced by the great diplomatic tradition of villainous underground work in service of selfish and cynical American ideals — work that doesn’t trouble itself with a conscience. In the same vein, we could even tease out the hand of the CIA in the Arab Spring.

The announcement of bin Laden’s execution and the circumstances surrounding it have only strengthened the old conspiracy theories. Besides the mysterious sea burial of the world’s number one terrorist (after George Bush, of course), there’s also his residence to examine: a reinforced base surrounded by a high wall and three rows of barbed wire in the middle of a neighborhood of luxurious villas owned by retired officers of the most secretive army on the continent. A blind man could notice the compound.

The date on which bin Laden’s death was announced was no accident, either. It follows months of intense negotiations between the Taliban and the puppet government in Kabul about a cease-fire, which would affect the most moderate of the fundamentalist factions. America has been bringing this option to the table for a while, but the global superpower doesn’t always clean up after itself. The war in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks was only a pretext to invade Iraq, execute Saddam and take control of important oil resources, with the blessing of the rest of the Arab gas pump attendants in the Middle East. It would seem that the next deployment of American diplomacy is already underway, reinforcing its status in the Middle East, while abandoning Afghanistan to its own sad destiny.

In all likelihood, Libya and Iran are or will be NATO’s next targets, and the organization’s communications are giving the royal treatment to a new style of human rights, and Muslims — in particular, Arabs, the new Indians with rich, enticing land — haven’t seen the end of the surprises from NATO. In conclusion, the president of the United States has kept his word on the war on terror, but has left the Palestinians hanging in their struggle toward the right to a State of their own.