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Tuesday, October 15, 2002 |
If I had a rocket launcher
My friend Bill Humphries saw the Minuteman missile launch yesterday, and gives several link to sites which, in turn, mention that the Pentagon claims this as a "successful" interception test. It's worth checking out Bill's entry, even if you've already seen the photos, for the short bit of personal history about what missile tests ultimately mean.Coverage of the launch in the mainstream media, though, has been devoid of any mention of the standards used in the past by the Pentagon to define "success".
The Pentagon, TRW and Boeing have a long history of bogus tests that have included such tricks as putting a GPS transmitter in the "right" target, and eliminating from tests any decoys which are too easy to confuse with the target. Theodore Postel of MIT has provided a needed expert voice to criticize the spin doctoring surrounding missile technology, going back as far as his debunking of the Patriot missile's performance during the Gulf War.
update: markup error fixed so that the Theodore Postel link works.
