Read Conspiracies: The Facts * the Theories * the Evidence Online
Authors: Andy Thomas
Tags: #Conspiracy Theories, #Social Science
have been the ones taking their revenge, in which case Kelly
may simply have been pondering a not implausible outcome
from that direction? Whichever, the all-too-precise nature of
his own prophecy is an element which has resonance with other
problematic fatalities of recent history.
Procedural Anomalies
Despite the areas of concern around the circumstances of his
death, the vocal minority that reject all notions of conspiracy
about David Kel y refuse to see any insurmountable anomalies.
But what about the
procedural
anomalies that followed? Among several important areas ignored or sidelined by the Hutton
Inquiry, the issue of the coroner’s death certificate has itself been a cause of discontent. Part of the very reason for the inquiry was to define the causes of Kel y’s death, so why, then, was a death
certificate suddenly issued by the local registrar, on the orders of the coroner, just a week into the hearings, directly stating the cause as haemorrhaging from an incision in the left wrist? This
164
Conspiracy.indd 164
23/10/2012 15:42:24
assassination conspiracies
highly irregular move, which pre-empted the inquiry and ren-
dered much of its purpose irrelevant, suggests that pressure was
being applied from the start to get the matter cleared up quickly, irrespective of the evidence. It was eventual y revealed by prob-ing parliamentary questions raised by Norman Baker, MP, that,
shortly before the inquiry opened, two covert meetings took place between the coroner and Home Office staff with their own official pathologists. These questionable engagements may throw light on
where the causes of death, so prophetical y listed on the certificate, were ascertained. In fact, a number of protocols around the issue of death certificates were contravened in the case of David Kel y.
An MP Fights for Truth
If one of the weaknesses that kept questions about the death of
Diana from being taken seriously in the mainstream was the
perceived idiosyncrasies of their most high-profile advocate,
Mohamed Al-Fayed, then the public issues raised around David
Kel y were greatly strengthened by the championing of its cause
by Norman Baker, MP for Lewes, East Sussex. Baker, who had
won political awards for his persistent battling in areas where
most members of the House would not dare to tread, was vocal
in his refusal to accept the official line on the Kel y affair. His determination to get to the bottom of the case led him to step
down from the Liberal Democrat frontbench for a while to
conduct thorough research and incisive investigation – more than
the Hutton Inquiry did, for the most part.
Baker’s conclusions were published in the bestselling 2007
book
The Strange Death of David Kel y
and have been hugely influential in taking this particular conspiracy theory far beyond the usual alternative fringe. This has not prevented Baker from
being the subject of sceptical criticism, but in his beliefs that Kel y was almost certainly murdered, the public is overwhelmingly on
165
Conspiracy.indd 165
23/10/2012 15:42:24
conspiracies
his side. Baker claims he received a cyber-attack which wiped his hard drive on one occasion, suggesting that others also felt his
investigations were getting close to the bone. There is no question that Baker’s persistent research has helped turn up much of the
information discussed here, forcing the release of evidence that
might never have surfaced without his status as an MP.10
The Hutton Timelock
The world may have to wait a while for further important infor-
mation on Dr David Kel y to become available. With the delivery
of his final report, Lord Hutton decreed that full publication of vital documents, medical reports and forensic evidence must
be withheld for an astonishing 70 years – claiming it was in the
interests of not putting Kel y’s family under further stress.
The justifiable outcry at this very suspicious announcement
stimulated more consortiums of medical experts and concerned
public figures to apply further pressure, resulting in a slight
concessionary turnaround in October 2010, when the full text of
Hutton’s post-mortem report
was
released to quieten the critics.
This, natural y enough, simply restated the official verdict in a little more detail, and many felt it fell far short of the comprehensive evidence that was needed for the true picture to emerge,
especial y as it had been so clearly influenced by the questionable death certificate issued before the inquiry had even concluded.
Somewhere towards the end of this century, perhaps we will be
allowed to hear more, but in the absence of further concessions
the view that Kel y was pushed, rather than fel , is likely to persist.
Critics of the conspiracy view point to a number of Kel y’s
friends or contacts who, seemingly more hurt by the idea of
murder than suicide, refuse to countenance alternative theories
of the situation, stating that he
could
have been capable of taking his own life. Truthseekers, however, see these views as
166
Conspiracy.indd 166
23/10/2012 15:42:24
assassination conspiracies
overly defensive, concealing grief with denial. Similarly, the
general silence that has descended over Kel y’s family, who will
not discuss assassination theories, nor seemingly anything these
days, when they might well be in possession of some important
information (especial y Kel y’s wife), have led some to suggest that intimidation, persuasion or even financial settlements may have
bought their silence. Disgusting nonsense? Maybe, but if so it is a nonsense that many believe.
Mass Assassinations
Assassinations and consistent reports of strange deaths among
awkward witnesses concerned with everything from the Apollo
missions to the deaths of JFK and Diana suggest that little
conscience may be applied by those who consider life to be cheap.
There are several examples where whole groups of people
appear to fall victim to a ‘removal’ programme.
The Progressive
Review
’s webpage, ‘Arkansas Sudden Death Syndrome’, for
instance, lists an incredible 50 or so statistical y strange fatalities among those who have had business or personal connections
with the US political heavyweights Bill and Hil ary Clinton over
the years.11 The causes range from murder, accidents and many
suicides, to a man who apparently drank himself to death with
domestic mouthwash. There is no available evidence that the
Clintons themselves had anything to do with these unfortunate
demises, but if it isn’t a bizarre statistical blip (as similar patterns around the likes of JFK and 9/11 witnesses would suggest it isn’t), then somebody, somewhere, would appear not to like the people
around them very much.
Such examples tend, on the whole, to remain solely in the
realm of minority awareness, whatever their true significance.
What, though, of mass deaths that are so large, so monumental y
significant and so much in the public eye that the questions
167
Conspiracy.indd 167
23/10/2012 15:42:24
conspiracies
around them become simply impossible to ignore? We must
come, at last, then, to the conspiracy theories of 9/11.
In Summary . . .
Assassination Conspiracies: Arguments Against
The kil ing of JFK is too long ago and too confused in its detail
to be able to draw any useful conclusions today – If it was such
an obvious conspiracy, why didn’t later governments expose it? –
The drink-driver verdict on the Diana car crash has been backed
up by too many inquiries to be false, and all other speculation is
simply convoluted paranoia or based on circumstantial evidence –
Dr David Kel y’s family will not discuss assassination theories and
so must believe the official verdict; therefore everyone else should
too – Norman Baker, MP, is prone to believing in conspiracies and
is not to be taken seriously.
Assassination Conspiracies: Arguments For
The vast majority of people believe that more than one assassin
was involved in kil ing JFK, as even later official inquiries agree,
and therefore the shooting was by definition the result of a complex
conspiracy that deserves a new and serious investigation – Later
governments may have harboured some of those behind the actual
assassination – The official hearings over Diana’s death did not
look at a number of important areas that, on inspection, make it
more likely that the driver’s blood test was unreliable and that
other factors must also have come into play – The anomalies over
Kel y’s death are too strong to ignore, and family and witnesses may
have been persuaded into silence – Norman Baker had no history
of investigating conspiracies, but was moved to pursue Kel y’s case
168
Conspiracy.indd 168
23/10/2012 15:42:24
assassination conspiracies
solely on the blatant irregularities around it – Too many key people
die in mysterious circumstances too often for their sometimes bizarre
deaths to be coincidences.
ConClusion
Even today, the West sponsors multiple open assassinations of
‘terrorist’ leaders in Middle Eastern states, but assassination has also been a staple tool of regimes and underground forces against its own figureheads throughout history, as chapter 2’s citing of
Roman conspiracies makes clear. Acting so obviously today would
never be tolerated, so the setting-up of patsies or the feigning of certain situations would therefore become necessary for any who
would spirit away key informants or inconvenient inspirations,
while covering their tracks in the process. When lives are seen as expendable, the taking down of just one more irritant would be
unlikely to worry the beneficiaries.
It is hard not to be suspicious when, time and again,
unexplained elements, seemingly anticipatory events or curious
cover-ups muddle what should be straightforward evidence of
accidents or genuine suicides. Even indisputable assassinations
are too often not what they at first appear to be, with subsequent inquiries evasive or suspiciously sloppy. It is unsurprising then, that the public chooses to keep its own mind on what it thinks
real y goes on.
169
Conspiracy.indd 169
23/10/2012 15:42:24
9/11 AND RELATED
CONSPIRACIES
If the shooting of JFK was the ‘mother of all conspiracy theories’,
then 9/11 must be the son. The widespread doubt which has been
expressed about the official story is very much the culmination of
the many mass disil usionments from the last few decades. The often
highly charged debates which have grown up around what at first
seemed an irrefutable occurrence neatly distil most conspiracy theory
staples under one umbrel a. All the classic elements are present: the
al egations of a state-sponsored false-flag attack to create a mandate
for oppressive control and desired conflicts; problematic forensic
evidence; contradictions and holes in the official version of events;
clear evidence of obfuscation in official reports; and events which seem
to contravene both common sense and the laws of physics – according
to the theorists. A number of other thematical y related events, such as
the London 7/7 bombings, have attracted similar scrutiny.
i) 9/11
A False-Flag Event?
The criteria listed in the paragraph above are only the very basics of the claims that the truth has not been told about the notorious 170
Conspiracy.indd 170
23/10/2012 15:42:24
9/11 and related conspiracies
attacks which took place on 11 September 2001. It stands to
reason that they are savagely denied by those affronted at the very idea that there
is
even an alternative view on the official version of events. The orthodoxy, as indelibly enforced in the mainstream,
holds that Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network arranged
for the hijacks of four jet liners, which, now piloted by terrorists, were flown into the World Trade Center (WTC), the Pentagon
and woods in Pennsylvania respectively, killing around 3,000
people. This narrative has already passed into dark legend, and, as such, needs little reiteration here. Yet, deep in the collective gut, it is hard to deny that there is a disquiet about what real y happened on 9/11.
The widespread doubt that has grown by the year is evidenced
by the pol s conducted for 9/11’s tenth anniversary, which exposed the remarkable reality that something approaching half the global population had doubts about the official story. In the UK, the
ICM poll service ‘found that more people agree than disagree
that the official account of what happened on 9/11 might turn
out to be wrong in important respects’. Indeed, only 8 per cent
of respondents ‘strongly agreed’ with what they had been told to
believe.1 The conspiracy view has once again become mainstream
without anyone quite realizing it, yet this striking lack of faith is repeatedly misrepresented or ignored by the media, and attacked