March 31, 2002
Regarding the flame war discussed below, here is the actual text of the "Washington Whispers" column in U.S. News and World Report article which caused Insight mag and these tighty righties to get their underpants in a scrunch:
McVeigh's ghost
Some dismiss it as being akin to Elvis sightings, but a few top Defense officials think Oklahoma City bomber Tim McVeigh was an Iraqi agent. The theory stems from a never-before-reported allegation that McVeigh had allegedly collected Iraqi telephone numbers. Why haven't we heard this before about the case of the executed McVeigh? Conspiracy theorists in the Pentagon think it's part of a coverup.
If you're waiting for the punchline, there isn't one. This is about as gossipy as a National Enquirer report on Liza Minelli's wedding. But here's how Insight recounted the above article, albeit with the addition of "sources" unknown and unnamed:
Last October, U.S. News & World Report revealed in its "Washington Whispers" column that McVeigh was carrying Iraqi telephone numbers when he was arrested on the day of the bombing. Sources tell INSIGHT that the phone numbers apparently were contained in a sealed manila envelope that was turned over to the FBI unopened by the Oklahoma state troopers who arrested McVeigh. The FBI logged in the evidence as "manila envelope with content," but never disclosed what was inside.
First of all, there's the obvious difference between McVeigh's "collecting" telephone numbers and having them physically discovered on his person when arrested. (I wonder how easy it was to dial Iraq after the Gulf War anyway. If anybody tried, let me know. Perhaps McVeigh was part of some sort of Iraqi telephone number underground. Maybe there's an ebay connection. I'll look. I promise.)
Second, US News didn't even feature this blockbuster as its lead item. It was buried way down the list, underneath a hot tidbit about Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris and her congressional ambition, and way after an explosive expose of a White House ban on kung pao and pizza deliveries after 9/11. In other words, it's fluff. Insignificant, and maybe even propaganda. After all, finding a connection between Iraq and McVeigh, or Iraq and Al Qaeda, or Iraq and Lyme Disease, is all the more ammunition for mounting an attack.
We don't need this to prove that Saddam's dangerous and needs to be dealt with. He acts very much like Trujillo and Somoza did, except he's got oil money. If the U.S. needs reasons to attack Iraq, or at least disrupt and destroy its chemical and nuclear weapons programs, is it really necessary to rely on McVeigh's ghost to do so? Please. He did enough damage when he was alive.
eric 10:25 PM
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