OBL Found:National Security Agency satellite

  • Thread starter Thread starter mouseonmoon
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Satellite Security
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the credibility of a report claiming that the National Security Agency (NSA) has located Osama Bin Laden using satellite surveillance. Participants explore the implications of the report, the reliability of its sources, and the potential motivations behind its publication.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions the credibility of the report, suggesting that it is hard to believe such a story would be published given the risks of Bin Laden taking evasive action.
  • Another participant notes the chain of sourcing, indicating that the story originates from a French paper citing an English paper, which may have been censored due to the UK's official secrets act.
  • Concerns are raised about how the French paper could know what information was censored in the British publication if it was not made public.
  • A participant expresses skepticism about the accuracy of French newspapers, stating that they do not trust them as reliable sources.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express skepticism about the report's credibility, with no consensus on its reliability or the motivations behind its publication. Multiple competing views regarding the trustworthiness of the sources remain evident.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight limitations regarding the reliability of information from different national sources and the potential for censorship affecting the dissemination of news.

mouseonmoon
OBL Found!:National Security Agency satellite
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=awJVc6Kiq75c&refer=top_world_news


The area is under surveillance from a satellite while forces await orders, the newspaper said in its early Sunday edition, AFP reported. Bin Laden's whereabouts had been discovered from ``a combination of CIA paramilitaries and special forces, plus image analysis by geographers and soil experts,'' the newspaper reported, AFP said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Andrew Harrison at aharrison2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor for this story:
Peter Hannam at phannam@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 21, 2004 19:02 EST


The article says bin Laden's movements are monitored by a National Security Agency satellite.

Believe it or not?

====
edit
IOW :what can 'satellites' do?
anyone remember reports of Russians offering to 'bring rain' to put out fires in ...via 'satelilte'--as in 'changing weather' !
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
Amazing, if it's true.

It seems hard to believe they would print such a story at this point though, because of the danger of Bin Laden finding out they know and taking evasive action.
 
You see that the story comes from a French paper citing an English paper. The English paper might well have been censored because Britain has a strong official secrets act, and no first amendment rights. But the French paper would have no concerns, quite the reverse, considering the coolness (to put it mildly) between France and the US.
 
Yes, I see what you mean about the French being unconcerned.

It's not clear to me, though, how they could have known what info had been censored in the British paper. If it wasn't printed, how did they find out about it?
 
Originally posted by mouseonmoon


Believe it or not?

Not until I hear it form a better source, at least. In my experience, French newspapers are not very concerned with accuracy, either.