Posted on 03/12/2005 5:27:01 AM PST by billorites
There's an old saying that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts its boots on.
Let it be known that mistakes can travel just as fast and just as far.
Take the case of Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-California, who at a hearing on Capitol Hill last week spoke about a 1962 nuclear test in the Nevada desert. The test was code named "Project Sedan."
Tauscher's remarks were little noticed, until they were transcribed incorrectly in an unofficial transcript of the hearing. One letter was changed. The "Sedan" nuclear test became the "Sudan" nuclear test.
And the government of Sudan took notice.
Less than a day after Tauscher uttered her words, and after they were incorrectly transcribed, Sudanese officials evidently were alerted to the transcript.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires in Khartoum and demanded an explanation about the supposedly secret nuclear tests in the east African country.
The Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera picked up the story. It put the Sudanese foreign minister on the air. "The Sudanese government takes this issue seriously and with extreme importance," he said.
The Chinese news service picked up the story. In a story appearing only one day after Tauscher spoke, the news service reported that the Sudanese government held the U.S. responsible for "cancer spread in Sudan" caused by "U.S. nuclear experiments in the African country in 1962-1970."
The quickly evolving story got little notice in the United States.
At offices of the Federation of American Scientists government watchdog Steven Aftergood was reviewing CIA public translations of overseas newscasts, and came upon the story.
"I thought, Wow!," said Aftergood. "Here's a historical revelation that will cause the history books to be rewritten. No one's ever heard of a U.S. nuclear test in the Sudan in 1962."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
It's a good thing that when (former) CBS Anchorman Rather used forged documents to try to bring down a sitting president, George W. Bush's advisors chose not to Sue Dan. It would have sparked an international incident.
I believe it was Brit Hume who spoke about this yesterday. One misspoken word and the world seized on it as a chance to attack the United States.
The worst part is that it will now be seen as common "knowledge" around the world even though it never happened.
"George W. Bush's advisors chose not to Sue Dan."
Yes, but that would have given my mind so much Sue Dan ease.
By next year our kids will be seeing it in their textbooks.
They were complaining about the toxic dye 'Sudan 1' the other day:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1354357/posts
I bet eye witnesses to the Sudan Nuclear blast will be coming out of the woods any day.
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