Conspiracy theorists flock to Bhutto murder

Well, it sure didn't take long for Benazir Bhutto's assassination to be blamed on George W. Bush. Condier this serving of foolishness from The Moderate Voice, "Did A Hi-Tech Laser Beam Kill Benazir Bhutto?" by Swaraaj Chauhan.

[A]llegations have surfaced that sophisticated laser beam technology was used to eliminate Benazir Bhutto... .

TMV Blogger Swaraaj Chauhan goes on to cite The Nation newspaper of Pakistan thus:

“The Nation on its front page said the gunfire and bomb blasts at Bhutto’s election rally “were a decoy to hide the real shooters” and claimed laser technology similar to that used by American forces in Iraq had been used.

So, case closed, at least in the uncritical mind of Swaraaj Chauhan, who swallows this stuff whole and goes on to ask,

Some food for thought: If the allegations about laser beam technology prove to be true…then the important question: How did this latest sophisticated US technology reach Pakistan?

It's probably futile to point out that the list of nations that can manufacture high-power lasers is quite long. One need look no farther than China or even India. But of course the (imaginary) lethal laser had to come from the US.

It seems the nonsensical allegation actually emerged first from the bowels of Bhutto's own party, the Pakistand People's Party. First they blamed Paki President Pervez Musharraf, but why stop there? Eventually, everything bad that happens in the world must have proximate causes originating in the Oval Office.

Commentators at TMV point out that the power required to fire a laser capable of fracturing a human skull would require an enormous vehicle train. JimFM, for example:

Let’s see: Guy with a gun, or, a laser beam generated by heavy, bulky, hard to transport equipment which would be almost impossible to hide or target.

Occam’s Razor wins.

A. J. Stata adds at his site:

Of course, the power required for these kinds of laser beams require an equipment van the size of a semi-tractor trailer to house the beam forming components. You definitely are not going to see a hand held laser which can penetrate skin and bone (you know, the cranium) in less than a second anytime soon.

Hah! That's what Dick Cheney wants you to think. I know that by using the alien technology we gained from the Roswell crash, lethal lasers no larger than a fountain pen have been produced by the secret agency MIB. Furthermore, they only require two AA Energizer batteries.