Fakes
May 8, 2012, 3:22 AM | Updated: Jun 5, 2012, 3:27 am
Did you see the story about the fearsome long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles featured in a spectacular North Korean military parade recently?
They got the attention of much of the world because of their embarrassing rocket failure and their nuclear technology. That’s why these missiles got so much photographic and video scrutiny from experts in the field.
And after much analysis, the weapons experts around the world collectively came to this conclusion: the missiles that the North Korean government and the military were broadly showing off are fakes!
They’re a mish-mosh of components culled together from incompatible weapons systems that could never be used together. One would suspect that the Korean words stenciled on them would probably be translated to “Mattel.”
If you think no country would ever try such fakery, a long time ago I wrangled a trip into East Berlin. The main boulevard that would be shown to visitors was lined with tall, prosperous-looking buildings. When we drove behind them, the stunning reality was they were hollow shells — sides and a front — all for show.
See? All the phonies aren’t in Washington after all.
I’m Pat McMahon.
