by Gary Betts

Created on: August 11, 2009   Last Updated: July 18, 2011

'Where there's smoke, there must be a fire'. This old saying has much truth to it and it also describes the legitimacy of some conspiracy theories. If there was nothing to any of these conspiracy theories, why are millions of people over time saying otherwise? Governments around the world, including the United States, operate in secrecy. They lie, they cheat, they cover up.

So governments themselves have laid the foundation for these theories by being so secretive in the first place. And if so many people believe in the most noteworthy of these theories, there must be something there. 'Where there's smoke, there must be a fire'.

For instance, look at the well-known conspiracy theory that President Franklin D Roosevelt knew, via British intelligence, that the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor on December of 1941. The President wanted the United States in World War II because he feared that Germany and Japan would win without U.S. involvement. But the American people had an isolationist attitude and it would take something really big for them to support going to war. Pearl Harbor was the answer. The President did nothing to stop the attack so he could go to war.

The assassination of President Kennedy is the most obvious case of government involvement and cover up. Even the news media seems to have played along with the government. I remember watching Lee Harvey Oswald, as he was being taken to court, shout to reporters, "I'm a patsy."

The media never really explored his statement that he was set up to take the fall.This crime was never fully investigated, the Commission that followed was a sham, everything about this murder stinks.

As for the U.S. government being responsible for 911, this conspiracy becomes laughable. Or is it? Would President Bush have gotten Congress to give him the go ahead to invade Iraq if not for 911? Despite dubious evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Bush would not have been given Congressional approval to go to war if not for the patriotic fever created by 911.

Bush and Chenney wanted to take down Saddam and 911 gave them that opportunity. Maybe it was something as simple as Israel finding out about the attack and warning the U.S. Like Roosevelt, maybe Bush did nothing to thwart the attack so he could go to war.

These are just three examples of the possible legitimacy of some conspiracy theories. Before you disregard any of these theories, please take the time to read about them. You will find a lot of truth behind there. And don't trust the U.S. government to tell you the truth. They have lied and cheated their way to power and will lie and cheat to stay there.

You look at poll numbers for the most untrustworthy professions and you will find politicians at the very bottom of the barrel. And there is good reason for this. That's why conspiracy theories have gained so much power. Americans trust these theories made by ordinary men and women more than politicians. Remember, 'where there's smoke, there must be a fire'.

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