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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.


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