 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
US Spy Imagery Agency Defends Its Work Against Critics
The head of the US spy imagery agency defended the work of his organization on Wednesday, saying the satellite photos, digital graphics and maps it generates were more in demand than ever by military and other government departments. "You must have, I believe, what is the geographical, the geospatial setting, whatever the problem is," said James Clapper, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and head of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA). "Everything, everybody has to be in some place," Clapper told reporters. The NGA has faced sharp criticism in the US Congress, where members have questioned the agency's effectiveness in the war in Iraq and the broader effort to track potential terrorist threats. According to The Washington Post, the director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, is due to release recommendations soon on the role of satellite spying activities. Clapper rejected allegations that demand for the NGA's product was on the decline among government agencies. "I have not seen it for my last four years. In fact, the opposite has been true," he said. The US Central Command, or CentCom, which oversees US troops in Iraq and throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, was "our primary customer", he said. "In the phase we are in now, the emphasis is on recovery, reconstruction. So we provide a lot of infrastructure kinds of data," Clapper said. A report published in April by an independent commission, charged with analyzing the failures of US intelligence in the search for possible weapons of mass destruction under Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, underlined the limits of satellite imagery in the US-led invasion of 1993. The report found that satellite photos failed to prove useful in locating chemical and biological weapons sites. All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
Taiwan Planning Spy Satellite: Report
Taipei (AFP) Oct 10, 2005Taiwan plans to launch a spy satellite costing 300 million dollars as a result of China's continued hostility towards the island, a newspaper reported Monday.
|
|
| |||||||||
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. |
