Tin foil stocks are up
In the nineties we all watched X-files and heard about lots of silly conspiracy theories. But now it seems such ideas have gone mainstream and normally sensible people are saying strangely stupid things. It may have something to do with the polarised atmosphere or cognitive dissonance, but still. It’s weird how little people care about sticking to the rules and trying to find some truth in a conversation. And how few people are willing to accept these facts and change their opinion. Here are some examples of some of the silly things I’ve heard recently.
The idea that the Iraqi WMDs were moved to Syria. To quote David Kay, “there must have been a production process which required plants, required people and would have produced documentation. But we have seen nothing that would indicate large-scale production.” They weren’t produced so they didn’t exist. And therefore they couldn’t have been moved. How hard to grasp is that?
The idea that the evidence found in Spain was planted and that it was ETA all along. Let’s look at what we know about this. ETA has denied involvement. Al Qaeda has admitted involvement. The nature of these attacks is very typical of Al Qaeda and atypical of ETA. Also, leaving Arab literature in a vehicle is not uncommon for Al Qaeda, they did so on 9/11 too. I guess they just carry that stuff around with them all day.
And then there’s the theory that ETA and Al Qaeda would be working together. Again, there’s no evidence in favour of this. There are, however, arguments against it. Al Qaeda thinks very much in historical terms and the failure of the Arabs (Moors) to conquer Europe plays an important part in that. One of the reasons for that failure was the resistance of the Basks. On the other side, the Spanish government has cracked down on ETA quite aggressively. From what I’ve heard they are very afraid of intruders and don’t trust anyone who’s not a Bask. So once again, a lot of reasons against it and no evidence for it.
Of course the police investigations since have found nothing to support these theories (this piece was mostly written before these yielded results – yeah, I’m lazy). And before people start disagreeing - I don’t have to disprove all this. You have to prove it. Until you come up with some hard evidence these kinds of theories are as real as the Easter bunny.
5:04:50 PM 
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