I was initially fascinated by Hersh's article, given his illustrious past. Unfortunately, as I began to fact-check, it quickly became evident that his article is fiction. Nearly every important element he cites is simply incorrect. Ships were elsewhere, people were pre-teen when they were supposed to be recruited by foreign powers, and so on. Sadly, Hersh is ending his days as a crackpot, which is a great shame. Meanwhile, the question-mark over the pipelines remains firmly in place.