Cam belt service life -- can it be so?

My Ducati has 13,000 miles. The manual says the cam belts should be replaced at 12,000. In an era where some motorcycle drive belts last at least 100,000 miles, it boggles my mind that Ducati would have belts so inferior. What gives? I've heard all of the horror stories of cam belts breaking and I know exactly what will happen. Who has had or knows first hand of such an event that could be directly attributable to broken cam belts?