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From: joelm@microsoft.UUCP (Joel MCNAMARA)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Where Are the Troops?
Message-ID: <1990Dec3.051640.3870@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 3 Dec 90 05:16:40 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
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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?


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