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Africa: North
SUDAN DEMANDS CLARIFICATION OF 1962 U.S. NUCLEAR TEST (in Sudan)
2005-03-10
From Secrecy News newsletter, link to FAS website.
The government of Sudan is seeking clarification of reports that the United States carried out a nuclear explosive test in Sudan in 1962.
I'm suprised and shocked. You sure?
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma'il told Al Jazirah television yesterday that his country was responding to the disclosure of the Sudan nuclear test at a congressional hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee last week. But there was no such test.
Oh, sure there was. Remember, they had that real big city, bigger than Khartoum, and we blew it up in the wee hours of the morning, but we weren't gonna tell the dumb guys, because we knew they'd forget it happened because of their short attention spans, and... uhhh... never mind.
A review of the transcript of the March 2 House Armed Services Strategic Services Subcommittee hearing does indeed include a startling reference by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) to a 1962 "Sudan" nuclear test.
Typo or malapropism alert!
"The Sudan test displaced 12 million tons of earth and dug a crater 320 feet deep in over 1000 feet in diameter," she noted. It is clear from the context that she was referring to a well-knownJuly 6, 1962 explosion at the Nevada Test Site codenamed "Sedan."
Ohhhhhhhhh, I see now.
Yeah. Now the Frenchies will want "clarification."
The remarkable crater it left behind can be visited today by tourists.
'Hey, check out the big hole. Did a JDAM do that, Daddy?'
'No, son. That was produced by an atomic bomb of the type that we tested in the Sudan in 1962.'
The term "Sedan" was mistakenly transcribed as "Sudan" both by Federal News Service and by FDCH Political Transcripts and has been so recorded in the Nexis news data base, where it continues to cause mischief.
Bwahahahaha!
Sudanese Agriculture Minister Majzoub el-Khalifa suggested Wednesday that the purported U.S. nuclear test may have caused cancers in Sudan, according to a Xinhua news story today.
I see that the story is now taking a life of its own, with some help from the Sudanese govt, al Jazz, and the Chicom news service. I guess Iraq is old news to Al Jazz, and they are looking for new headlines.
Obviously, he's got lots of research to back that claim up...
See "US Envoy Summoned Over House Remarks on US Nuclear Tests in Sudan," Al Jazirah, March 9 (translated by CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service), and an excerpt from Rep. Tauscher's remarks, March 2, here.

Wanna tour the Nevada Test Site?
Link here
Posted by:Alaska Paul

#11  Emir al-Litella has it right -- this has all the makings of a Saturday Night Live skit.
Posted by: Tom   2005-03-10 7:45:12 PM  

#10  I'm sure that if Sudan is disappointed with the US response, we can follow through by actually conducting a nuclear surface test. I recommend Khartoum, and we'll need to keep it a surprise, so there won't be too many onlookers and gawkers. Oh, and let's make it a really BIG one, say 15MT.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2005-03-10 6:57:14 PM  

#9  Yes, Moltke, the DMV will send you your license shortly...
Posted by: BigEd   2005-03-10 6:44:17 PM  

#8  Sedan test? Did we pass?
Posted by: Moltke the Gummy   2005-03-10 4:58:41 PM  

#7  Never mind.
Posted by: Emir al-Litella   2005-03-10 4:25:05 PM  

#6  You'd think they'd know if there was a 1000 foot wide nuclear crater in their country.
Posted by: Dishman   2005-03-10 4:08:14 PM  

#5  

Tauscher's Bigmouth
A troublesome creature known to reside in the area near San Francisco, CA.
Posted by: BigEd   2005-03-10 3:18:49 PM  

#4  See "French military defeats"

Or "French military victories". It would amount to the same.
Posted by: Sobiesky   2005-03-10 3:17:40 PM  

#3  
Sedan, Nevada crater
Posted by: BigEd   2005-03-10 3:13:30 PM  

#2  sedan - that would be eastern France, no? See "French military defeats"
Posted by: liberalhawk   2005-03-10 2:50:32 PM  

#1  It is clear from the context that she was referring to a well-knownJuly 6, 1962 explosion at the Nevada Test Site codenamed "Sedan."

So, the next step would be for Sudan to demand royalties from every U.S. car maker for making certain kinds of vehicles...
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-03-10 2:49:37 PM  

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