 |
| Former FBI deputy director Mark
Felt emerges as his daughter Joan Felt (L) and grandson Nick
Jones (R), look on from
his home in Santa Rosa, California, May 31, 2005. Mark Felt
is 'Deep Throat,' the legendary source who leaked
Watergate scandal secrets to the Washington Post. (Lou
Dematteis/Reuters) | |
Now that "Deep Throat" has been identified as a 91-year-old California
grandfather, aficionados of
unsolved mysteries have to look elsewhere. Luckily for them, there are
plenty of places to look.
Even after Tuesday's revelation that former FBI No. 2 Mark Felt was the
Watergate super-source "Deep Throat," there are still unknowns swirling
around the scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon in 1974.
The main question remaining is what information was contained -- and
erased -- in the 18 1/2 minute gap in a White House tape recording. The
tape, made by Nixon's secretary, Rose Mary Woods, contained a discussion
between the president and his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, pertaining to Watergate.
Woods shot to notoriety for her inadequate explanations of how she came
to erase part of the tape. She never told what the tape held before her
death.
A more contemporary Washington mystery is the source of the leak that
led columnist Robert Novak to identify a CIA operative named Valerie
Plame, an expert on weapons of mass destruction.
Novak mentioned Plame by name in a July 14, 2003, column critical of
Plame's husband, retired diplomat Joseph Wilson, after Wilson reported an
Iraqi purchase of uranium "yellowcake" from Niger was highly
unlikely. Wilson's report went counter
to some in the Bush administration who sought a link
between Iraq and weapons of mass destruction.
Novak has not said where he got the information, but denied it was a
"planned leak," and said he was never told revealing Plame's identity
would endanger her or anyone else. A special prosecutor is investigating
the case.
The mystery that set Washingtonians buzzing in the summer of 2001 was
the disappearance of 24-year-old Chandra Levy, a government intern who had
a relationship with Rep. Gary Condit, a California Democrat. Levy's
skeletal remains were found in a city park in 2002. How they got there
remains unknown.
Beyond Washington, there are historical mysteries that still resonate.
Many observers wonder whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone on Nov. 22,
1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
The mystery surrounding former Teamsters union
leader Jimmy Hoffa revolves around what happened to his body after he
disappeared from a Michigan parking lot in 1975. The presumption is he was
killed by the Mafia
, but the whereabouts of his remains are unknown.
The final fate of pioneer aviator Amelia Earhart
has never been discovered, although theories abound. She was last heard
from on July 2, 1937, on the Pacific leg
of her attempt to be the first woman to fly
around the globe. Extensive rescue attempts turned up
nothing.
(Agencies) |
既然“深喉”已經被證明是一位91歲高齡的加州祖父，那些熱衷于神秘未解之謎的狂熱者們只得將目光投向別處。幸運的是還有很多地方值得他們關注。
上周二，一個秘密公諸于世——美國聯邦調查局前二號人物馬克·費爾特就是“水門”事件中的超級泄密人“深喉”！盡管謎底已經揭開，但在導致尼克松總統1974年下臺的“水門”事件中，仍存在一些不為人知的謎團。
至今遺留下來的主要疑團是“神秘的錄音帶”。尼克松總統的秘書羅絲·瑪麗·伍茲曾經錄制了一盤磁帶，里面記錄了尼克松總統和他的參謀長海德曼關于“水門”事件的一段討論，而其中有18.5秒時間的錄音被抹去了，缺失的內容成為人們關注的焦點。
伍茲因為沒有充分解釋她抹掉那段帶子的原因而落得聲名狼藉。直到臨死前，她也沒有說出那段缺失的磁帶到底隱匿了什么。
還有一個更現代的“華盛頓之謎”。有人向《華盛頓郵報》專欄作家羅伯特·諾瓦克透露了一名中情局特工的真實身份，這位名叫瓦萊麗·普拉姆的特工是研制大規模殺傷性武器的專家，誰是此次事件的主謀成為另一個似乎永遠都解不開的謎底。
2003年7月14日，諾瓦克在關于約瑟夫·威爾遜的一期專欄評論文章里提到了普拉姆的名字。普拉姆的丈夫約瑟夫·威爾遜是一位退休的外交官，他之前曾提交報告，認為伊拉克向尼日爾購買“黃餅”（核反應燃料重鈾酸銨或重鈾酸鈉）的傳聞幾乎不可能屬實。威爾遜的報告與布什政府中某些人的目的恰恰相反，后者力圖找到伊拉克和大規模殺傷性武器二者之間的聯系。
諾瓦克并沒有透露他的消息來源，但他拒絕承認這是一起“有預謀的泄密事件”，并稱他從未被告知泄露普拉姆的身份會危及她或其他人的安全。一位獨立檢察官正在調查這件案子。
2001年夏天，24歲的聯邦政府女實習生錢德拉·利維的神秘失蹤在華盛頓掀起風浪。利維與加州民主黨眾議員加里·康迪特有不正當關系。2002年，利維的骸骨在一個城市公園里被發現。但這一切究竟怎么發生的仍然是個謎。
在華盛頓之外，同樣有一些至今未解的歷史謎團。比如很多觀察者都想知道，1963年11月22日約翰·肯尼迪總統在達拉斯遇刺時，暗殺者李·哈維·奧斯瓦德是不是單獨行動的。
關于“傭工國際工人兄弟會”前領導人吉米·霍法的謎團則集中在他的遺體去向上。1975年他在密歇根州停車場神秘失蹤，人們推測他是被黑手黨暗殺的，但他的遺體的下落始終沒有答案。
盡管眾說紛紜，但是從來沒人知道先驅飛行員阿米莉婭·埃爾哈特的最終命運究竟如何。1937年7月2日人們最后聽到她的聲音時，她正在太平洋上飛行，試圖成為第一個環球飛行的女人。大規模的搜救工作全都無果而終。
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2005-06-06 10:23