Speaking Of Conspiracy Theories...

Maybe I have become a full-fledged member of the tinfoil hat brigade, but I have trouble believing that the kidnappings of interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's relatives were anything but a PR stunt to help make Allawi look better in the eyes of his critics.

From a recent news article...

A cousin of interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi who has been held hostage since November 9 was freed on Sunday, a spokesman at the prime minister's office said.
The cousin, Ghazi Allawi, 72, his wife and his pregnant daughter-in-law were abducted at gunpoint in western Baghdad's Yarmouk neighborhood. The two women were freed November 14.

Now let me get this straight... Margaret Hassan, a woman who lived in Iraq for 30+ years, spent all those years working tirelessly to improve the lives of the Iraqi people and married an Iraqi man, is kidnapped and murdered by insurgents. Meanwhile, Allawi, who is supposedly hated by said insurgents, has relatives kidnapped and released unharmed when there demands go unmet.

It seems to me that Allawi staged the whole thing so that he could show how resolute he was in the face of danger to his own family.

So, am I nuts or what?