| OK, I guess it was already half over when I caught it. I'm not sure how it started.
Basically, the show detailed that the Patriot Missiles never actually shot down any confirmed Scuds during the entire Gulf War. They even replayed CNN footage that we originally were told showed the Patriots working, and showed that the same footage actually proved that they did not.
Scientists from MIT studied the Patriots performance, and labeled it a complete failure, that it's success rate is between 0 and 11%, as opposed to the 90% figure that the U.S. government tells us.
They also documented that the Patriot has never successfully intercepted any missiles in controlled testing either.
The failure of the Patriot is not a secret to the Isrealis apparently, because interviews were shown that stated the new Isreali "Arrow" system was developed specifically because the Patriots were unable to protect the way the Americans claimed it could.
...just went through the archives on the web site. turns out it was a rerun. Here's the official recap:
February 5, 2003
The Best Defence
In 1991 the American military bragged they had the perfect weapon to neutralize deadly Scud missiles. But it wasn't true, and no one had even bothered to tell the President of the United States that their super-missile was way off the mark.
Here's the website for the fifth estate: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/
They have a link for ordering transcripts and videos or all shows, if anyone is interested. | |
