# Missile strike on Sudan **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2000, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076 "2000-08-20T19:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/1 "2000-08-20T19:37:56Z")
So did any definitive evidence of terrorist activity ever come to the public fore regarding the Sudanese pharmaceutical plant we destroyed with a missile attack two years ago? I haven’t seen much on it since. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/2 "2000-08-20T20:02:08Z")
I haven’t heard much about it either, which leads me to believe that it was probably just an innocent pharmaceutical plant. Either someone _really_ screwed up, or our beloved president was Wagging the Dog. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/3 "2000-08-21T20:33:44Z")
Check out this old story: [Doubts linger over U.S. claims about bombed Sudanese Pharmaceutical plant](http://www.nando.net/newsroom/nt/828kenyah.html). IIRC, The Wall Street Journal did an investigation (which I can’t find online) that concluded that sloppy testing procedures without appropriate confirmation were to blame for the mistake (if it was a mistake). ---
**Author:** ![PaulT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@PaulT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulT)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/4 "2000-08-21T20:42:07Z")
Yep, I heard it was an innocent pharmaceutical plant too. Does that mean the US Government has to classify itself as a terrorist organization now? ---
**Author:** ![Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/5 "2000-08-21T21:31:41Z")
Several weeks ago, the news reported that this Pharm. Co had filed suit against the United States for damages to their aspirin factory. This was a mulit-million dollar suit. It seems to have been 40 mil. ? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/6 "2000-08-21T22:06:26Z")
The worst part is that, at the time, a Chinese friend of mine was accusing the US of doing the bombing without proof of anything and I blindly told her I believed they _must_ have _some_ proof. So the worst part is they made me look like a fool and I think I should sue Clinton for making me look like a fool and the ensuing humiliation. ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/7 "2000-08-21T22:38:40Z")
Sailor, Sailor, Sailor… You should know better than to believe anything that our government, let alone our president says. I mean you’re talking about Bill Clinton here. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/8 "2000-08-21T23:05:37Z")
From the article linked to by bibliophage: _Washington has opposed Sudan’s calls for a UN inspection of the plant, but the experts say an independent inspection may be the only way to corroborate Washington’s claim._ I personally think that Sudan is justified in asking for an independent inspection. ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2000, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/9 "2000-08-22T00:14:11Z")
I love it. Iraq…we need independent UN inspectors. Sudan…well we’d like to but, you know, it’s expensive and all that. And how come you don’t trust us? Isn’t our word good enough for you. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2000, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/10 "2000-08-22T06:59:32Z")
You ain’t supposed to ask questions like that. You are not supposed to have a memory. You are supposed to follow and swallow every utterance that your government makes otherwise you are unpatriotic. ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2000, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/11 "2000-08-22T13:36:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*The worst part is that, at the time, a Chinese friend of mine was accusing the US of doing the bombing without proof of anything and I blindly told her I believed they _must_ have _some_ proof. So the worst part is they made me look like a fool and I think I should sue Clinton for making me look like a fool and the ensuing humiliation. \*\* There is a lesson here. This is not an isolated incident. The government lies all the time, especially regarding events in other countries which are difficult for anyone to confirm. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2000, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/12 "2000-08-22T18:02:12Z")
I’m not one to blindly believe the US government, but I am sure as hell not going to believe the Sudanese government. Of course the Sudanese government is going to express outrage and proclaim their innocence. What are they supposed to say, “OK, you got us. We were producing nerve gas. Our bad.”? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2000, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/13 "2000-08-22T18:42:15Z")
Lance Turbo, take a look at the article linked to by bibliophage. It says: > [@](#): > > Tucker (Jonathan Tucker, an expert on chemical weapons control at the Monterrey Institute of International Studies in California) said EMPTA contains a methyl phosphorous bond that is very persistent and hard to destroy. > > “If large quantities were produced at this plant, there should be still traces of it unless there’s been a complete washdown of the site,” he said. Which is why Sudan is justified in asking for an independent inspection of the site, and the USA seems to be trying to “cover up” by opposing the independent inspection. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2000, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missile-strike-on-sudan/30076/14 "2000-08-27T08:20:01Z")
it slipped off the front page without my noticing. AW, I did read the linked article. The article does not say whether or not the site has undergone a complete washdown. It seems to me that if they were producing nerve gas there, they would clean up the site before demanding an independent inspection. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t need to. Either way, an independent inspection doesn’t tell us a whole lot.