13. Iraq,
2002
GlobalSecurity.org
posted this image showing new construction (in enlarged boxes) at the Tuwaitha
nuclear research center southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry
immediately responded by showing a picture of the image at a press conference
and denying that the facility was being used for military purposes. The Iraqis
then led Western journalists on a carefully controlled guided tour of portions
of the facility to demonstrate that it did not have WMD function. The release
of the Tuwaitha image marks the first time that an NGO has successfully used
commercial imagery to influence the behavior of a country believed to be
illegally pursuing a WMD capability.