unable to apt-get an older system

[Jim Pazarena <debian@paz.bz>]

I have a debian based appliance which is running 2.6.16.62, I am unsure how to
determine debian version.

I need to add wput (apt-get install wput)
however first I need to run apt-get update
which fails at:

Hit http://ftp.us.debian.org stable/contrib Release
Reading Package Lists... Error!
E: Unable to parse package file 
/var/lib/apt/lists/ftp.us.debian.org_debian_dists_stable_main_binary-i386_Packages (1)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

Is there a way around this? Other than a full update, which isn't possible
because the appliance runs a canned program which would likely choke on
a full upgrade.

Thanks!
--
Jim Pazarena         debian@paz.bz