Judge Juan del Olmo yesterday released an enormous 1400-page ruling on the investigation into the March 11, 2004 bombing in Madrid. 29 persons have been indicted and will stand trial. Most of them are small fry involved in obtaining the dynamite used.

Del Olmo's summary is the legal verdict on the evidence in the case. Right here is where I have to take a stand, since in a democracy under the rule of law we all agree that the judiciary is neutral and what it says, after due process, goes. Del Olmo's decision has the force of law unless it is overturned by a higher court.

Del Olmo says two things critical in debunking the conspiracy theory in his ruling: first, that the only connection between the bombings and ETA is that Trashorras, the criminal scumbag who got the dynamite used, had in the past tried to sell explosives to ETA, never successfully; and second, that the backpack loaded with the bomb that didn't go off and was later dismantled by the bomb squad, was in police custody at all times. The mobile phone that was to have served as the timer on the bomb was traced back to several of the accused.

Those who are to go on trial include:

Jamal Zougam, arrested March 13, 2004, one of those who actually made and planted the bombs.

Abdelmajid Bouchar, arrested in Serbia in 2005.

Rabei Osman, alias Mohammed the Egyptian, arrested in Italy.

Hassan el Haski, arrested in Lanzarote in December 2004. Accused of being leader of Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group in Europe.

Youssef Belhadj, arrested in Belgium in February 2005

Mouhannad Almallah, Basel Ghalyoun, and Rafa Zouhier, all arrested in March 2004. Zouhier was a Civil Guard informer.

Mohamed Larbi ben Sellam, Mohamed Bouharrat, Fouad el Morabit, Otman el Ghaout, Hamid Ahmidam, Abedlilah el Fouad, Rachid Aglif, and Said El Harrak, all currently jailed without bail.

According to Del Olmo, the terrorist group that committed the bombings began to form in mid-2003 in Madrid under the leadership of "el Tunecino," Serhan ben Abdelmajid, and "el Chino," Jamal Ahmidan. It was a local group operating on its own under the influence of radical Islamic propaganda, which it got from various sources, including the Internet. The group considered itself a branch of Al Qaeda, and it had contact with Amer Azizi, a member of the Al Qaeda cell led by Abu Dada broken up in 2001. Azizi fled Spain with Mouhannad Almallah's passport. Several members of the group were arrested in the months before the bombings for petty crimes, but none was rousted as a terrorist. They manufactured the bombs using the explosives they got from Trashorras in exchange for hashish. The bombs were of very simple manufacture; the terrorists could easily have obtained the necessary information through Internet. Police calculate the entire bombing operation cost about €40,000.

It's obvious to me the judge is right; just use Ockham's Razor on it. If you have a question, the most likely correct answer is that which requires you to make the fewest assumptions. Ockham's Razor puts an end to most conspiracy theories, mostly because if you believe in the conspiracy, you have to assume that a lot of people are involved and are lying about their roles.

I generally believe the official story, since the official story has the full faith and credit of the legal system behind it. If we can't believe the judges, we can't believe anybody or anything ever. Somebody, somewhere, sometime, has to decide what is true, and we've given that role in our society to the judges, at least for legal purposes. No, I don't believe that judges are infallible gods. I do believe that you need to listen very carefully to what they have to say, and that you need extraordinary evidence to overturn a reasoned judicial ruling. Sure, if they find Otegi's fingerprints on the mobile phone, then we have to radically reassess Del Olmo's ruling. If we don't find something like that, then we don't. So far we haven't.

This controversy reminds me a little of the Kennedy assassination. The official story was right. Yes, there are loose ends, and there will always be. No investigation can reveal all of Oswald's contacts or movements, much less what he was thinking. But he did it.