I actually also have a counter- conspiracy theory which is that Bush and others realized that the best way for the US to get back at its enemies was to trash the American economy.
As bad as it sounds, it would have as a side effect the suppression of oil and gas prices. It would devastate high income earners first and American would recover faster and better than all foreign economies.
Low oil prices devastate Russian, Iran and many other evil governments. Slow US economy ravages the Chinese economy.
Sometimes giving people what they want is the perfect medicine. I also count this as a possibility. I think investors have been trying to crush the US economy for about 6 months. I think the Russian invasion of Georgia was part of the global concert. Russia hoped it would jack up oil prices.
Low gas prices are one nice positive side effect of this whole affair.