Investigation vs Conspiracy Theory

There is a phrase in American culture that has taken on a dynamic unto itself — conspiracy theory.  As far as I can tell, it started with Roswell and that the government was hiding alien bodies, though, nobody could ever prove it.  

The “area” in question was Area 51.  This was a place where the military conducted super-secret tests of super-secret projects.  The military has a name for this place, and, yes, I have been there, done that, seen it firsthand.  Are there alien bodies there?  None I saw.  Was there super-secret testing going on?  Sure.  But, let’s not mix conspiracy theory with the more benign investigation.  As a law enforcement officer and investigator, the very first thing you learn is that there are no coincidences.  The second thing you learn is that where there is smoke, there is usually fire.

That leads me to the crux of this essay; the death of GOP programmer Mike Connell.

Mr. Connell was deeply involved in an investigation concerning GOP IT issues that may well have bordered on criminal conspiracy.  As President Bush reaches the end of his term, Mr. Connell suddenly dies in a plane accident.

Haven’t we seen this before?

In 1981, Panama leader Omar Torrijos died in a plane crash opening the door for CIA asset Manuel Noreiga to assume power.  

In July 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash.  

In October 2002, Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash, only 11 days until the mid-term elections.  That was the year that GOP conservative Norm Coleman won the Senate race against a weak Walter Mondale.  

Now, many people will say, “you have 3 cases in the span of 21 years”, this proves just how unreliable the data is that the GOP were involved.  This couldn’t be more wrong, however.  Flying has always been safer than driving in pure statistical data.  Let me put the numbers up:  in 2008, a GOP state Senator Rhoades died in a car crash in Pennsylvania.  From a simple google, I can find one STATE Senator who has died in CAR crash within the same time period.

Also, let’s look at how law enforcement views it during a case when the trail of evidence goes “cold”.  That’s right, it becomes a “cold case” — not a conspiracy theory.  Simply put, the evidence trail ends and the case is brought to a halt.  

The very first “conspiracy theory” I know of since Roswell was the Kennedy Assassination.  For very good reason, this incident needed to be investigated further than it was, simply because that after the assassination, the Secret Service got into an armed standoff with local deputies BEFORE an autopsy was performed by the local coroner.  Why?  And why have these files been sealed for decades after the incident?  I have watched jurisdictional pissing contests.  I have never, EVER, seen those involved in them draw down on each other.  Was it a matter of security?  Couldn’t be.  The Secret Service could have provided, along with the deputies, adequate security on the building.  So, the ONLY reason for a draw down was that they didn’t want an independent source doing the autopsy.  Why not?  The man was dead of a gun shot wound.  We know that.  So, why wouldn’t the Secret Service allow locals to do the autopsy?  There are only two reasons I can think of; 1) that the autopsy would reveal more entry wounds than reported, or, 2) the autopsy would reveal a bullet still embedded that was of a different caliber than reported.  Those are the ONLY two reasons that the Secret Service wouldn’t have allowed the local coroner, who had a body who died in his jurisdiction, to do the autopsy.  Conspiracy theory or cold case?  I guess if the government says it is a conspiracy theory, it must be one — despite all known facts and logical thinking.

Am I the type of guy to buy into “conspiracy theories”?  No.  I know that there are no alien bodies at Area 51.  I understand that the “UFO’s” seen were merely experimental aircraft.  Oh, and btw, since Roswell became famous, the military moved their more sensitive projects from Area 51.  

Am I the type of guy to believe my seeing eyes?  You bet.  

People can debate 9/11 all they want.  Did WTC tower 1 and 2 fall because of fire and heat that stressed the inner core?  Who cares.  I watched WTC 7 fall in a way that was a classic implosion.  Forget the fact that WTC 1, 2, AND 7 ALL fell into their footprint.  If you don’t understand the importance of this fact, get any 6 year old with a Jenga block set and watch it fall to the side first — not straight downwards.

The only thing that a person needs understand is that our own government is not, has not, been made up of people who were saints.  It has before, will again, do things that are repugnant to the general populace.  

And the fact that the general public doesn’t know of things is of no consequence.  I held a Top Secret security clearance in the military with access to Critical Nuclear Weapons Design Information and NATO.  I had no clue that the FA-117/A was in our inventory, and had been for years, until its unveiling.  But, I still knew things that many didn’t and still don’t.  For those who say, “how can so many people know, yet, nobody talks”, I point you to the FA-117/A.  There were hundreds, thousands of people involved in that project, yet, it was kept secret from even those of us who held TS clearances IN THE MILITARY.

Ok, I hear ya — if 9/11 was an inside job, why hasn’t anyone involved come forth!

Simply, because so few people had to be involved in it.  This is what few understand.  Given the time span, how many people HAD to be involved?  

Bush and Cheney for sure.  A select team of people at the top of various agencies who would deflect any investigation they didn’t want to have happen.  A very small team of explosive experts.  Nothing more.  The reason is; people follow orders.

Could the WTC buildings have been rigged with explosives weeks, even a month or two, in advance?  Yes.  Quite easily.  One of Bush’s relatives was in charge of security at the WTC.  It would have been VERY easy for that person to manipulate who could and couldn’t have access to where.

Could explosives and/or thermate charges been planted without detection?  Again, quite easily.  We are way too familiar with C-4.  What we aren’t familiar with is the gels or liquid explosives and how to dispense them.  A drill, a dispenser canister, and the explosive is already in place.  Just push in a detonator with a radio transmitter and wireless receiver.  A little plaster over a hole, a little paint, and voila.  But, as an investigator, I look at evidence.  Firefighters, cops, and reporters that day reported hearing separate, loud, explosives THROUGHOUT the buildings PRIOR to their collapse.  This is not faked.  It is the truth.  And, I SAW pictures of one of the buildings lobbies, the walls had clear signs of spalding — ie, a great force exploded behind the walls.

Then, lets turn to how a plane crashes and leaves little evidence.  Right.  Have you ever been on a plane crash?  I have.  An F-16 crash I was on left more evidence than either the Pentagon or Pennsylvania crash sites.  We are talking major airliners here.  They don’t simply evaporate as we are told

We then add in the FBI.  The FBI reported, within 24 hours, that they knew the identity of all of the hijackers, yet, later, the FBI said that they had NO evidence these individuals were involved.  Yet, the Secret Service seemed to know exactly where to START the investigation within 24 hours of the attack — a town next to Sarasota, Florida — the same town that President Bush was having his “read the book My Pet Goat” that morning.  

How many coincidences before we open our eyes?

I was in law enforcement when 9/11 occurred.  I sat in a “law enforcement only” briefing AFTER 9/11.  The FBI sat and showed us how they had tracked every one of these 9/11 hijackers, some for over 20 years, worldwide, yet, within a year of 9/11, all of them had entered the United States and simply disappeared from their “radar”.  Right.  You can track a person across the globe for 2 decades, but, within 1 year of the worst terrorist attack on our soil, you can’t find ONE of them?  Not ONE?  While the Secret Service seems to know EXACTLY where to start the investigation AFTER the attack?

Getting the picture yet as an investigator would?

But, our government would never do this.

Our government unleashed, then covered up, Tiger Force.  A killing team in Vietnam that went on a seven month killing spree of men, women and children.  The cover-up of which included one Donald Rumsfeld.  Even though journalists at the Toledo Blade uncovered this cover-up, not one person has ever been held accountable for those crimes.

Just because the evidence isn’t there doesn’t make something a conspiracy theory.  It simply means that the trail of evidence went cold, and, if we know one thing about Cheney, after his time in the Nixon administration, he learned to leave no evidence.