US SPY SATELLITE - To track Afghans from space

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Saturday October 6 12:07 AM ET

US Spy Satellite to Track Afghans From Space

By Jeff Franks and Jack Redden

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden can run, but he may not be able to hide after the U.S. carried its war on terrorism to the heavens on Friday with the launch of what is believed to be a finely focused spy satellite to hover over Afghanistan.

The launch was part of a slowly building diplomatic and military effort to isolate the central Asian nation ahead of possible strikes against the ruling Taliban for its refusal to hand over bin Laden, the top suspect in last month's suicide plane attacks on New York and Washington.

The U.S. sent troops to Uzbekistan, Afghanistan's northern neighbor, and won permission from nearby Georgia to use its bases for air strikes should the Taliban not give in.

The moves fueled speculation that the next act in the crisis was nearing as President Bush assembled the biggest deployment of U.S. forces since the 1991 Gulf War.

The U.S. has blamed Saudi exile bin Laden and his Islamic crusade for the Sept. 11 attacks by hijacked jets that leveled New York's World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon near Washington and left some 5,600 people dead. It warned the Taliban, Islamic fundamentalists who have given bin Laden safe haven for five years, to surrender him or face the consequences.

Should attacks go forth, they may be guided in part by what the newest U.S. spy satellite sees after its launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Air Force refused to comment on the payload, but it was commissioned by the Defense Department's supersecret National Reconnaissance Office, which specializes in gathering pictures and electronic data, including telephone conversations, on the ground from hundreds of miles up in space.

Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine said Washington had been readying a KH-11 ``Keyhole'' satellite with imaging resolution down to a few inches from 200 miles (360 km) out in space and could be used to track small groups of Afghans on foot and even spot their campfires.

UZBEKISTAN ``NOT READY FOR THIS''

While the U.S. sent 1,000 troops to strategically located Uzbekistan, their military value was limited by a dictate from the former Soviet Republic that they could be used only for humanitarian and rescue missions, not attacks.

Asked at joint press conference with visiting Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld why he would not allow U.S. special forces to operate from the former Soviet republic, President Islam Karimov said, ``We are not quite ready for this.''

But Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, who as Soviet foreign minister urged the withdrawal of Soviet troops from a bloody Afghanistan war, had no such reservations, offering the United States his ``full cooperation and full solidarity.''

``On my part I will include Georgia's airspace and if need be airfields and other infrastructure as well,'' he said after meeting with Bush in Washington.

Shevardnadze predicted there would no massive military strikes in the coming war. ``If it becomes necessary, I think it will be more local,'' he told reporters.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has been Bush's strongest ally in what is still a war of words, stepped up the pressure on Afghanistan with a fast-paced visit to Pakistan on Friday which had a clearly-stated goal.

``The purpose is to ensure that we have a trap set around Afghanistan in which everyone supports the things we need to do,'' he said.

In a bid to make cooperation with the U.S. and Britain more attractive, the Bush administration was said to be readying a package of trade benefits for Pakistan and other key allies in the hunt for bin Laden, congressional sources said on Friday.

The measures, most of which would not require congressional approval, would remove hurdles to accessing the U.S. market, particularly for textile and apparel products.

The White House also ordered $320 million in urgent aid for Afghan civilians, who are facing mass starvation as millions flee ahead of possible war. The aid was part of an apparent effort to convince Muslims around the world that the war on terrorism was not directed at them.

DIPLOMATIC SPAT

The Bush administration's diplomatic efforts suffered a setback when a rare spat broke out between the United States and Israel, usually the strongest of allies.

The White House rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for saying the United States, as it tries to build an international coalition, risked appeasing Arab nations as Hitler was appeased on the eve of World War Two.

Israel, Sharon declared, ``will not be Czechoslovakia.''

``The prime minister's comments are unacceptable,'' said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. ``Israel has no stronger friend and ally in the world than the United States, and President Bush is especially a close friend of Israel.''

Arab states have criticized U.S. support of Israel, particularly at a time when hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces in occupied territory. The Bush administration signaled a new willingness this week to seek a middle ground in the Middle East when it said it had always supported the existence of a Palestinian state.

The row with Israel came as Rumsfeld finished up a Mideast trip in which he sought to build support for the U.S.-led campaign and stiffen the resolve of Gulf States who to make sure U.S. action is limited to Afghanistan and does not extend to other Arab states like Iraq.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz did him no favors when he said there is ``broad agreement'' among aides to focus first on the Taliban and bin Laden, but indicated Iraq could be a future target.

Asked about the extent to which it might be possible to target Iraq, Wolfowitz said bin Laden's al Qaeda group operated in 60 countries and Bush made clear that any nation continuing to support terrorism would be regarded as a ``hostile regime.''

Rumsfeld, after leaving Uzbekistan on his way back to the United States, held brief talks in Ankara with Turkish military and political leaders, including Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.

TRYING TO JUMP-START U.S. ECONOMY On the U.S. home front, Bush said on Friday that Congress was working as quickly as possible to pass a massive emergency stimulus package to try and jump-start the U.S. economy.

Stocks on Wall Street rebounded in mid-afternoon to end the day slightly up after Bush proposed a tax-relief program of at least $60 billion to help the economy recover.

Finance ministers of the seven top economic powers will discuss a strategy to prevent extremist groups channeling funds through the global banking system when they meet in Washington on Saturday for the first time since the attacks took place.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said the meeting would also focus on pumping confidence into the global economy.

Adding to post-attack jitters in the United States, the Washington Post reported that intelligence officials had told members of Congress there was ``a 100 percent chance'' of more terror attacks in America or abroad if the United States took military action against Afghanistan.

The White House declined to confirm the report, but acknowledged that ``threats do remain.''

The administration warned earlier about the possibility of biological attacks, which took on new urgency when a Florida man fell ill from anthrax, a rare disease that has been identified as a possible agent for biological warfare.

The man died on Friday, but health officials said the anthrax case was an isolated one and not the result of an attack.

-- Anonymous, October 06, 2001

Answers

BBC Saturday, 6 October, 2001, 08:31 GMT 09:31 UK US launches 'anti-terror' satellite

The satellite can track individuals on the ground

The United States has launched a satellite which intelligence analysts say will probably be used to gather information in the global campaign against terrorism.

The Titan IV rocket was launched from Vandenberg airforce base in California on behalf of the US National Reconnaissance Office, a secretive agency specialising in providing information for the CIA and the National Security Agency.

The rocket is believed to have been carrying a top secret KH-11 spy satellite - that could monitor Afghanistan ahead of an expected military strike.

The US Air Force refused to comment on the payload, but the NRO builds and operates America's spy satellites and specialises in gathering pictures and electronic data, such as telephone conversations on the ground.

Pin-point accuracy

Experts from Aviation Week and Space Technology Magazine said the satellite was likely to be equipped with a digital camera able to pick out objects as small as 10 cm (4 inches) across on the ground.

Orbiting hundreds of miles above the earth the 15 tonne KH-11 is capable of tracking small groups of people walking on the ground as well as vehicle and weapons movements.

It can monitor conversations and even spot campfires at night using infrared technology.

Identifying the enemy

According to Aviation Magazine such information could be used to monitor the movements of Taleban groups and refugees to help allied forces separate potentially hostile groups from "non-combatants".

The United States is believed to have spy satellites over Afghanistan already as US forces continue to build up nearby ahead of expected military strikes.

Before 1996 the NRO did not publicly disclose the launches of its satellites.

-- Anonymous, October 06, 2001


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