Government Information–United States
Source: AP
U.S. Blurs High-Tech White House Images
From the article, “Deferring to Secret Service worries about terrorists, the government is deliberately blurring its highest-quality aerial photographs over Washington to hide objects in plain view on the roofs of the White House, Capitol and Treasury Department. The government also obscured aerial views of the Naval Observatory compound where Vice President Dick Cheney lives. It made no effort to blur detailed photographs showing the Pentagon, Supreme Court, CIA headquarters, Justice Department or FBI headquarters.” From a recent article on on SecurityFocus.Com, “It is not as if aerial imagery of the White House is hard to come by,” says Stephen Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. Aftergood adds, “Except in the case of unacknowledged government facilities, it is hard to see what is gained by this policy, and the downside, I think, is that it encourages public paranoia.” The SecurityFocus also correctly points out that “overhead images of the same sites taken as recently as last year are still easily found online and in print — a detailed shot of the White House roof even adorns a glossy government brochure on the National Aerial Photography Program.”

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