| War on Terror

Conspiracy Theory Conspiracies

by Robert Capozzi

Morton Keller, a Professor of History Emeritus at Brandeis, writes over on the Wall Street Journal’s Opinion Journal, that:

“…in modern America, the path to war is beset with actions that rest on uncertain or arguable justification. The political/ideological fringes will craft theories of conspiracy with scant regard for fact or probability. And the opposition will make what it can of this material, within the limits of political prudence.”

He lays out the history of recent wars and a few of the conspiracy theories about those wars. This as an attempt, apparently, to counter the “Bush lied” position among the anti-Iraq-II set, of which I count myself. But I don’t necessarily use the word “lie” to describe what Bush did. Manipulate, perhaps. Shade the facts to make his case. “Lie” is a strong word, and requires the ability to read another’s mind. Sadly, that’s a skill few have developed.

Some “freedomistas” like to engage in such conspiracy theorizing. The “State,” they say, is our enemy, and pretty much anything “they” do is inherently a lie and mal-motivated.

To me, this sort of thinking is self-defeating. To Joe Six Pack (and to me), it sounds paranoid. If there’s a secret cabal of “statists,” who are these people? Do they have a secret handshake?

The point is: Governments do a lot of things that infringe on our liberties. Sometimes the motive seems benign. Sometimes its actions are outright duplicitous. Sometimes – often! mostly! – the government acts based solely on momentum, justifying previous actions that were themselves poor decisions initially.

So, Keller’s piece helps us to see a few things. First, that motivation for wars are sometimes trumped up, or at least questionable. Second, that the opposition is sometimes prone to overstatement in pressing its case, too. If the opposition presses its case too hard, they come off like zealots. Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” was a great example. He overreached, and in so doing, he solidified his base, but alienated the middle.

When it comes to war, it strikes me that we should recognize that the “cover story” is often just that, a cover. Almost always, war advocates – often motivated by the desire to exact vengeance – press for immediate action. But history tells us that, perhaps, the more prudent approach is always maintain a bias for inaction, especially when lives are on the line. The “clear and present danger” test seems to capture this notion quite well.

Bush never, IMO, made the case for a clear and present danger, except with WDM, perhaps. That proved to be incorrect. It’s interesting to know that some in his Administration were apparently itching to “go after” Saddam pre-9/11.

To call him a “liar,” however, does very little to advance the cause of peace. No one disputes that Saddam had WDM, and its whereabouts are still in question. The “lie” charge may galvanize the opposition, but the real question is: Does that work?

I see no evidence of that.

What Keller seems to miss, however, is that war is itself “fringe.” Killing people for where they live, what they believe, how they worship, etc., is now, and has always been, most marginal of thinking, IMO.

-Robert Capozzi