Tuesday, March 25, 2008

One big "Oops"

The US Defense Department admitted a mistake...a big one by mistake standards. Instead of shipping helicopter batteries to Taiwan, ballistic missiles were sent instead.

The "mistake" happened in 2006 as stated in the article " U.S. says missile parts mistakenly sent to Taiwan"

This raises so many questions: Was it a truly a mistake knowing that the US supports Taiwan and its attempts at a democracy? How can you confuse a missile for a battery? Why did it take so long for the mistake to be admitted? Why didn't the Taiwanese question what they had (surely they didn't try to use it as a battery)? Have the missiles been returned (the article didn't address this issue)?

Thank goodness this information came out after the Taiwanese elections this past weekend!

1 comment:

Gina said...

I'm sure Beijing was asking itself the same question you were, Angie, about whether the shipment was a mistake. Everytime I think this administration couldn't get more clueless, they prove me wrong. Actually, I think cluelessness is often bipartisan when it comes to understanding the histories of other countries. I also wondered whether the fuses were returned, and none of the stories I've read have said that they were. I wonder if we asked for them back. The answer to that question may also answer the first about whether it was a mistake.