This could just be the conspiracy theorist in me (inspired by The Mind's new show on TruTV--seriously, it's about conspiracy theories. And it's called Conspiracy Theory. Clever.), but a December Newsweek article about unmanned drones in Afghanistan ignited my critical thinking skills. And conjured images of Valerie Plame and Karl Rove (well, the name of Valerie Plame--a quick mental search brought 0 results for images).
The article probed the dilemma of a super top-secret "clandestine CIA search-and-destroy program" which shoots missiles from unmanned drones in the sky. The dilemma: shoot bad guys, and probably also some good guys. Important debate, but here's my problem: Since we're reading about it, IT'S NOT A FLIPPIN SECRET!!!
In Newsweek, reporter Mark Hosenball writes government officials won't confirm the program exists--at least not officially. He then cites a "U.S. national-security official--who...declined to be named..." and another who speaks on anonymity, and so on and so on. And the faceless voices tell one story: the success of the secret operations.
So you can see beginnings of my conspiracy theory start to take shape, right?
Hell, if I told you I wouldn't reveal what I ate for breakfast and then Tom in Accounting told you he knew what it was, you'd get curious, wouldn't you?
And on top of that, doesn't it seem convenient that there are these mysterious deep throats running amok and leaking all these positive stories about this controversial operation? There aren't any rogue advisors leaking the story of dead civilians all over the place.
Recipe for success
1) Make (name of clandestine death program here) secret.
2) Leak only the details you want to be known. (The best part is, they don't even have to be true! You're an unnamed source!)
3) Watch the media write up stories you want published
Conspiracy or not, leave Tom in Accounting alone. I dropped my fried egg sandwiches on the garage floor.
