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Qatar

12. Qatar, 2002
Taken by DigitalGlobe, a commercial satellite company, this image of the U.S.-leased Al Udeid airbase in the tiny Persian Gulf country of Qatar quickly and visibly drew domestic and international attention to the ongoing U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf in preparation for a possible war with Iraq. The image, which the GlobalSecurity.org Web site made public, was the single most requested image in the Web site's history, generating stories by major U.S. and foreign broadcast, print, and other media. The planes to the right are KC-135R Stratotanker refuelers, while the lone plane to the left is a C-17 Globemaster transport.


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