Zell, Chris <[email protected]> wrote: ** > http://www.thefreedictionary.com/conspiracy > > The above is the definition of conspiracy. Apparently, you may find > it helpful. >
I find it inaccurate. It says: "An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act." That would include any discussion, even one conducted openly, in public, such as the German public debates and rallies in 1914 before World War I. (WWII was more conspiratorial.) Most dictionary definitions say the act must be surreptitious. That is, hidden from the public, the police, and others. Plus it has to involve a group of people: "an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot." "1. A secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. 2. The action of plotting or conspiring. Synonyms plot - cabal - scheme - intrigue - collusion" The assertions by the Bush administration that Iraq was involved with the 9/11 attacks was propaganda. It was a bold, public lie. That is not the same thing as a conspiracy. Both are unethical, but they are different things. If the administration had secretly staged something like the Mukden Incident, such as having fake Iraqi terrorists carry out a bogus attack, * that* would have been a conspiracy. - Jed
