Some here seem to be quite confused as to what a conspiracy theory is. If someone makes a theory about some observations or facts and tries to explain absence of convincing evidence where it could safely be expected to be found by appeal to conspiracy then this is termed a conspiracy theory. To build a conspiracy theory is often used as a way to immunize one's pet theory against refutation.

So for instance if you theorise about faked moon landings, one approach to put such an idea to test is to ask what would be present if the landing would have been a fake. One instance (of many) would be the Russians crying 'foul'. The absence of this evidence, that is the Russians have not cried foul, is taken as a strong argument against the fake idea. If a proponent of the idea then says the Russians have been in the game (bribed, or threatened, together with all the astronauts and many scientists) the theory becomes a conspiracy theory. And to call it by this name is definitely not an argumentum ad hominem.

If I make a theory sbout something that is not known (official secrets, commercial confidentiality) this is not a conspiracy theory. So, if I muse about all the ingredients of classical coke I make a theory about something that is unknown (as far as I know), but not a conspiracy theory. If I would, however, claim that arsenic is in coke, and refute the argument that in this case many deaths would have been reported after drinking a lot of coke by saying that that only shows that both the government and the doctors have been bought by the company, then I would make a conspiracy theory.

Just by the way, the argument that some theory (in politics) is a conspiracy theory is much more often used by the left against ideas of the right than vice versa as a simple Google search shows.

I agree, however, that the use of the term 'conspiracy theory' for the PNAC is completely wrong. Some of the more outlandish musings, however, around the PNAC project, like the one's involving Bilderburg and New World Order (remember the too many posts by Dreaded Guest?) cross the line to conspiracy theories.

Wolfgang