Who says US cornered the market on conspiracy theories?

Before I proceed with my post, allow me to set the context right ...

I am a fan of stories on political espionage and conspiracy theories. In my hey days (read teenage to young adult years), I would lock myself in my room for hours on end, voraciously devouring books by Robert Ludlum (The Parsifal Mosaic, The Materese Circle, The Acquitaine Progression, the Bourne trilogy: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy & The Bourne Ultimatum, and many, many more) and Jeffrey Archer (A Matter of Honour, Honour Among Thieves).

These days, I'd rather sit in front of the idiot box or the silver screen and allow the story to unfold. It's a quicker process than reading the whole darn book; although watching takes the fun out of unravelling the mystery and the clues at every turn of the events. :) That was what kept me glued to the books previously. But then, I had more patience then. Talk about the MTV generation and having short attention span. Bet Cordy will agree that I have been vastly influenced by this generation.

I have digressed enough. Allow me to get on with my post. I came across this article "Malaysia's axis mysteriously shifting" on Asia Times Online and it got me thinking of all the possible conspiracy theories that could be built from this ... and then some. So I did some googling and voila! I found lots of stuff. True or false, ... guilty or innocent, ... I leave that to you to decide, my wise readers.

1. "... The 2004 proliferation case involving Scomi, a company owned by Abdullah's son Kamaluddin, which was allegedly involved in supplying dual-use technology to Libya's clandestine nuclear-weapons program. ..." Summary of the case and the outcome can be read here and here. The question is, IS there more here than meets the eye?

2. U.N Oil for Food Scandal. "New York - It began as a U.N. humanitarian aid program called "Oil-for-Food," but it ended up with Saddam Hussein (search) pocketing billions to become the biggest graft-generating machine ever and enriching some of America's most forceful opponents at the United Nations (search). ... " Read more here and here. And Malaysia's involvement in this? Read Raja Petra's account here.

3. The Altantunya Murder Trial. I confessed I haven't been following the trial but even a blind man could see that there is more here than meets the eye. Want to check out more premises for conspiracy theories? Read here. Although it was written almost two months ago, the blogger asked some interesting questions. Not enough to raise more flags? How about the following article written by Raja Petra.

It does make one pause and think, doesn't it? I remember an old idiom that goes, "there's no smoke without fire". Then again, a man is innocent until proven guilty.

Truth or lies? Guilt or innocence? Perhaps we will never know.

But these are surely great fodder for conspiracy theories. Time to write a book on one and earn millions. Perhaps be another Dan Brown in the making. All we need is one darn great book (ala Da Vinci Code) that creates enough interests and controversies that it becomes the talk-of-town. But make sure it's written under the "fiction" category so that you don't get sued (or hauled into ISA in this case).

Anyone up to the challenge of becoming the first Malaysian Dan Brown? :)