In 1991, soon after Operation Desert storm commenced bombing Iraq, the director of the National Reconnaissance Office — the U.S. spy satellite agency whose very existence would remain a state secret for another year — got a call from Colin Powell. The media-savvy general wanted to show news reporters satellite images of Iraqi targets U.S. laser-guided smart bombs and cruise missiles had taken out with destroyed with surgical precision. Powell asked the NRO if he had the authority, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to declassify damage assessments collected by U.S. spy satellites.
展开▼
