joelm@microsoft.UUCP (Joel MCNAMARA) (12/03/90)
From: joelm@microsoft.UUCP (Joel MCNAMARA) The December 3 issue of Newsweek has an interesting article concerning the number of troops in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Apparently ABC purchased a series of satellite photos from the Soviet commercial satellite agency, Soyuz-Karta. The photos clearly show the U.S. buildup, but offer no evidence of Iraqi military presence in Kuwait. Independent photo analysts checked the imagery out, which was shot in mid-September, and couldn't find anything. Because of the conflict with Pentagon Iraqi troop estimates, ABC hasn't aired the photos. Two explanations were offered. Poor resolution or expert camouflaging. Any comments on this? When I was dealing with LANDSAT images, the Soviets had an excellent reputation for producing high quality images. In a flat, desert terrain, would it be possible to camouflage troop, tank, and artillery emplacements good enough to hide them from commercial remote sensing satellites?
mjackson.wbst147@xerox.com (12/05/90)
From: mjackson.wbst147@xerox.com > Apparently ABC purchased a series of satellite photos from the Soviet > commercial satellite agency, Soyuz-Karta. The photos clearly show the > U.S. buildup, but offer no evidence of Iraqi military presence in Kuwait. > Two explanations were offered. Poor resolution or expert camouflaging. I know nothing about this, but let me offer a third possibility: selective editing. Mark <MJackson.Wbst147@Xerox.COM>