Ever reliable, conventional wisdom tells us that the Middle East is fertile soil for conspiracy theories. If Israel-Palestinian peace talks broke down (in my little imaginery world, such talks exist) and Israel claimed that it was because Arafat wanted too much while the Palestinians charged that Sharon was demanding the ritual sacrifice of every first-born Palestinian male, the latter would have some tractrion. More realistically , there is some truth that U.S. support for Israel has something to do with the domestic Jewish lobby while the love fest between our government and the House of Saud has something to do with oil. Taken to extremes, of course, such connections can morph into crackpot, LaRouche-like ravings. Then again, its not surprising that oppressed people would be given to speculation when interpreting the opacity of government workings.

Given the above, I am not sure it is a good idea to have a media blackout in Najaf.

The US Army is not exactly viewed as an objective source: Iraqi police ordered all journalists to leave the holy city of Najaf on Sunday, just as a new U.S. offensive against militants hiding out in a revered shrine there began. Concerns about the interim government's commitment to freedom of the press were sparked Aug. 7 when officials order the Baghdad office of the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera closed.