unSpun_ Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation - Brooks Jackson [56]
And the final proof is also right there on the Internet. Midway down the first page of our search results, we find a link to the U.S. Senate, which has devoted a brief article to exposing this very hoax. Better yet, the Senate staff has posted a copy of the actual transcript of the 1987 hearings into the Iran-Contra affair at which North gave his testimony. Gore wasn’t there. Committee lawyer Nields did the questioning. North named Abu Nidal, not bin Laden. Case closed. (If you want to see the transcript yourself, go to www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/ollie.pdf.)
Incidentally, North himself has tried to set the record straight a number of times. On his own website (www.olivernorth.com), he writes that he has received “several thousand e-mails from every state in the U.S. and 13 foreign countries” asking about the bin Laden hoax message, which he called “simply inaccurate.”
Finding the Good Stuff
We could cite countless examples here of false information floating around the Internet; you probably have seen plenty as well. The Internet is pure anarchy: more information is available more readily than ever before, but there are no regulations, no standards, and no penalties for making careless mistakes or even for telling the most outrageous conceivable whoppers. Fortunately, finding the good stuff can be fairly easy, and even fun. We’ve already demonstrated how quickly the Oliver North hoax could be shot down. The key is finding the right websites and knowing how to evaluate their reliability. In the remainder of this chapter, we’ll share with you a few of the things we’ve learned at FactCheck.org about finding trustworthy information on the Web.
First and most important, consider the source. Who stands behind the information? The Ollie North hoax was anonymous, impossible to trace back to the person who originated it. The author claimed to have seen a videotape of North “at a lecture the other day,” which of course is also impossible to verify. Claims from such sources deserve no credence whatever because you have no idea who is making the claim, or why. Assume that anonymous or untraceable claims are false until proven otherwise.
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The Hoax
This version was forwarded to FactCheck.org in 2006, but it’s been around since 2001 and is only one of many we’ve been asked about.
Anyone remember this?
It was 1987! At a lecture the other day they were playing an old news video of Lt. Col. Oliver North testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings during the Reagan Administration.
There was Ollie in front of God and country getting the third degree, but what he said was stunning!
He was being drilled by a senator; “Did you not recently spend close to $60,000 for a home security system?”
Ollie replied, “Yes, I did, Sir.”
The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of the audience, “Isn’t that just a little excessive?”
“No, sir,” continued Ollie.
“No? And why not?” the senator asked.
“Because the lives of my family and I were threatened, sir.”
“Threatened? By whom?” the senator questioned.
“By a terrorist, sir” Ollie answered.
“Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?”
“His name is Osama bin Laden, sir” Ollie replied.
At this point the senator tried to repeat the name, but couldn’t pronounce it, which most people back then probably couldn’t. A couple of people laughed at the attempt. Then the senator continued. Why are you so afraid of this man?” the senator asked.
“Because, sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of”, Ollie answered.
“And what do you recommend we do about him?” asked the senator.
“Well, sir, if it was up to me, I would recommend that an assassin team be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth.”
The senator disagreed with this approach,