Posts Tagged ‘Conspiracy Theorists’

The Green Movement, he [Hossein Shariatmadari, an adviser to Khamenei] said, was part of a grand conspiracy—conceived by, among others, Michael Ledeen (a veteran foreign-policy hawk), Richard Haass (the president of the Council on Foreign Relations), Gene Sharp (an authority on nonviolent resistance), and George Soros (the financier and philanthropist)—with the aim of overthrowing Iran’s government. The protests were not against Ahmadinejad, he explained, but “against the whole system.” Fortunately, “the people” had been mobilized and had stopped the conspiracy in its tracks.

Daniel W. Drezner: What Iran doesn’t know about the United States will really, really hurt them

Anti-Semitism in conspiracy theories – Ahmadinejads’ turn:

“What was the story of September 11? During five to six days, and with the aid of the media, they created and prepared public opinion so that everyone considered an attack on Afghanistan and Iraq as (their) right,” he said in a televised speech.

No “Zionists” were killed in the World Trade Center, according to Ahmadinejad, because “one day earlier they were told not go to their workplace.”

He had previously said the “9-11″ attacks were a “big fabrication” and has rejected the historical record of the Holocaust. On Saturday, Ahmadinejad repeated his belief that the Holocaust had been invented to justify the creation of Israel.

Reuters: Iran’s Ahmadinejad doubts Sept 11 attack toll

The popularity of conspiracy theories is explained by people’s desire to believe that there is – some group of folks who know what they’re doing.

(Damon Knight via Reason Magazine)

Mr. Hardly: That all the 9/11 conspiracy Web sites are run by the government. The 9/11 conspiracy… is a government conspiracy.
Stan: Aw Jesus…
Kyle: Why would the government want people to believe they caused 9/11?
Mr. Hardly: For a government to have power, they must appear to have complete control. What better way to make people fear them than to convince them they are capable of the most elaborate plan on earth?
…
Kyle: I knew it! You didn’t plan 9/11 and you really didn’t shoot that guy!
George W. Bush: Boys, you don’t understand. People need to think we are all-powerful. That we control the world. If they know we weren’t in charge of 9/11 then… we appear to control nothing.
Kyle: Well why don’t you just tell people the truth?!
George W. Bush: We do that too. And most people believe the truth. But one fourth of the population is retarded. If they wanna believe we control everything with intricate plans, why not let them?

(South Park: Mystery of the Urinal Deuce)