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assiduous reporters began to find clear links between McVeigh and a gang of far-right militia men that was connected to the Aryan Republican Army. The gang, led by Peter Langan and Richard Guthrie, carried out a series of bank robberies across the Midwest during the mid-1990s.
    Close investigation revealed that McVeigh had been in the same place at the same time as the gang over the years. During those periods he was able to travel continually and he always had money without having a job. He also told friends about a group that he had become involved with. For years, rumours of McVeigh's connection with the gang circulated but for a long time the FBI refused to accept the link. All that changed when, early in 2004, Associated Press revealed that blasting caps of the type used in Oklahoma City had been found at the gang's compound when they were arrested in 1996. Furthermore, the gang were in possession of a driving licence that belonged to a gun dealer who had been robbed by McVeigh immediately before the bombing. These revelations were deeply embarrassing to the FBI and they resulted in an internal inquiry being launched into the matter in March 2004. As yet, however, no conclusions from this inquiry have been made public.
    A COVER-UP?
So was there a wider conspiracy or did McVeigh act alone? In this case it definitely looks as if the conspiracy theorists have a point. The evidence of links between McVeigh and the Midwest bank robbers is extremely persuasive, especially when it is backed up by the fact that so many eyewitnesses recalled seeing McVeigh with other men on the day of the bombing. And the reasons for the cover-up? Probably simple incompetence and the desire to make sure that there was a successful outcome at the trial – one that would make a nice neat story and reassure the American people that justice had been done. Unfortunately, the result of this apparent deceit was to further entrench the mistrust of government in the minds of many Americans and make them all the more likely to give credit to outlandish conspiracy theories – like those, indeed, that McVeigh and his cohorts believed in.

T HE B ILDERBERG G ROUP
    It may well be the oldest conspiracy theory of all – that the world is controlled by a shadowy cabal of powerful men and women. Often, the existence of such groups is dubious in the extreme – as with, for instance, the Illuminati. In other cases, there may be some basis in fact (for example, it is true that there are many powerful Jewish bankers) but the leap to conspiracy (that Jewish bankers are running the world) is nothing more than the product of a delusion, in this case a form of anti-Semitic paranoia.
    However, the Bilderberg Group does at least look as if it might just be the genuine article – a group whose members rule the world. To begin with, it is clear that the Bilderberg Group does actually exist. It was founded fifty years ago and it has held an annual meeting ever since. And it is undoubtedly a secret organization. It has no corporate presence, not even a website, and it goes to some lengths to keep its annual meeting place – which is different each year – a secret. Finally, it does indeed involve many of the most powerful men, and women, in the world. Henry Kissinger and Paul Wolfowitz are regular attendees as are numerous Rockefellers, Fords and Agnellis. Even more significant, as far as the conspiracy theorists are concerned, is the fact that Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair all attended before they came to lead their countries. Coincidence? Perhaps. Let us just wait and see whether the Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, a Bilderberg guest in 2005, ever makes it to the top job.
    Ex-U.S Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and former President Gerald Ford in the White House. Henry Kissinger is one of many high-profile members of the Bilderberg Group.
    S ECRET MEETINGS
So what are the known facts about