Real Conspiracy Versus Phony Ones

CNN is carrying an AP story that shows the difference between real indications of a conspiracy versus allegations made up out of the whole cloth. According to an Iraqi spokesman, Abu Musab al Zarqawi had the phone numbers of some senior Iraqi officials stored on his cell phone.

Waiel Abdul-Latif, a member of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party, said Monday that authorities found the numbers after al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. air strike on June 7.

Abdul-Latif did not give names of the officials. But he said they included ministry employees and members of parliament.

That would indicate some suspicious activity and should be investigated. Then we come to two separate conspiracy theories:

Meanwhile, al-Zarqawi's wife told an Italian newspaper that al Qaeda leaders sold him out to the United States in exchange for a promise to let up in the search for Osama bin Laden.

The woman, identified by La Repubblica as al-Zarqawi's first wife, said al Qaeda's top leadership reached a deal with U.S. intelligence because al Zarqawi had become too powerful.

….

Al-Zarqawi's brother demanded that his body be transferred to Jordan, and accused the United States of lying.

"Bush took his body to the United States," al-Khalayleh told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home in the Jordanian city of Zarqa.

These are a couple of really whacked out theories.

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Star Chronicles — July 3, 2006 @ 10:31 pm

2. Flopping Aces » Blog Archive » Zarqawi’s Cell Phone — July 3, 2006 @ 11:42 pm