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I did not say it first, but I have said it a number of times: I do not believe in anything until it is officially denied.
First the reports were that a U.S. Navy-contracted ship fired warning shots at approaching motor boats in the Suez Canal.
Boats traveling these waters are frequented by boats carrying merchants trying to sell things, but because of the many military vessels these boats avoid approaching them. But the contracted ship was not a military vessel, and it seems it had been viewed as a civilian ship and therefore approached by merchants that came too close.
Now there has been a turn.
Following a complete denial from the US side of Egyptian claims that people had been hurt and one man killed - the US said that each fired shots was accounted for and had hit the water - US now acknowledge that one man had been killed.
I am not sure that this event in itself if significant. It is true that people accidentally get hurt without anyone having any bad intent. I do not think that the Egyptian men hit by the shots were intentionally targeted.
But damage was committed that was intentional, and it was not done by anyone present in the Canal at the time.
That was the lie of the US officials that denied the Egyptian claims, instead of saying that they had yet to review all facts before confirming or denying anything.
It is a horrible thing when people can not trust their representatives not to lie to their faces.
It would have been an easy thing to allow a few days to pass and do a research and THEN deny or confirm. Instead it is very likely that the American people will suffer another blow to their standing in the world, because of the terrible way their representatives act in their name.
