In May 1974, Cambodian troops captured the U.S. container ship SS Mayaguez and her crew off the Cambodian coast, igniting a clash between the new Khmer Rouge regime and a U.S. president dealing with aftermath of Watergate. The Mayaguez incident was initially reported as a successful rescue mission, with the administration of President Gerald R. Ford keeping silent about the forty-one U.S. military personnel who died. For five days, the Pentagon insisted that one American had been killed. This incident highlights key communication steps in the life cycle of a politically constructed falsehood meant to mislead and limit information reaching the public sphere.

中文翻译：

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福特总统的个人水门事件：马亚圭斯事件对公共领域的破坏

1974 年 5 月，柬埔寨军队在柬埔寨海岸捕获了美国集装箱船 SS Mayaguez 及其船员，引发了红色高棉新政权与处理水门事件后果的美国总统之间的冲突。Mayaguez 事件最初被报道为一次成功的救援任务，杰拉尔德·R·福特总统的政府对 41 名美国军人的死亡保持沉默。五天以来，五角大楼坚称一名美国人被杀。这一事件突出了政治构建的谎言生命周期中的关键沟通步骤，旨在误导和限制信息到达公共领域。