Conspiracy Corner – The Legacy of the Dodgy Dossier

Every Thursday, about 8:15am, Matthew talks with Zac (with Lucas lurking on the sidelines) on 95bFM’s “Breakfast Show” about conspiracy theories.

Once upon a time, two cheeky lads who, because they were leaders of countries who loved spending money on toys that go “Boom!” and “Explodo!”, decided that the world would be a better place if an old chum of theirs was no longer able to come out to play. They believed, in their hearts of hearts, that the plan was not only a good one but was, as they had heard ethicists say, “the most moral course of action.”

There was only one, very little problem, which was that these two lads didn’t have all that good a rationale to go through on this plan. Oh, their former chum was a naughty boy, but his very naughtiness was what had endeared him to them in the first place. They needed a reason, and a good one, to not just get him but also to turn everyone else against him as well.

Being bullies, they persuaded some school yard acquaintances to go and fetch some evidence of wrongdoing. Not just any evidence, however. No, it had to be a special kind of evidence. When their acquaintances came back and said “There ain’t any!” the lads were perplexed. Didn’t their acquaintances know what they were meant to have found?

The boys approached their teachers, who had once been spent time in the school yard themselves. “They didn’t find it!” they said to the teachers.

“How peculiar,” the teachers said. “When we were their age it was easy to find. Let’s amend their reports; it’ll all be fine.”

Soon the lads were passing around the edited report, and some of their school yard chums were a little less that enthused by it. “Didn’t your acquaintances say something different?” they would say to them. “No, the teachers pointed out what was wrong”, the lads replied. “Really?” everyone said. “Yes”, the lads sighed, believing better.

Thus was born the Dodgy Dossier.

Yes, today we talked about Syria and how the legacy of the dossier which “legitimised” the invasion of Iraq has lead to some skepticism about the “legitimacy” of taking military action against the Assad regime in Syria.