C. Wiebes - Intelligence en de oorlog in Bosnië 1992-1995. De rol van de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten - Engels

2984. How were Albright’s satellite photos discovered?On 10 August 1995, the American Permanent Representative at the UN, Madeleine Albright, producedthe previously mentioned photos in the Security Council. The photos showed Bosnian-Muslimprisoners and upturned earth where the bodies of the executed men had been buried. 1615 Every set ofU-2 imagery recovered at RAF Alconbury in Great Britain had a complete, separate copy run forshipment to DIA in Washington DC. The images shown by Albright to the UN unquestionably camefrom the DIA copy of Molesworth developed U-2 film. 1616 The DIA copy was shipped separately by airto Washington, usually within a week or so. Albright showed these photos to the Security Councilbecause initially there was nothing to suggest that executions had taken place. This came later, after thesurvivors reached Tuzla. Their testimonies then prompted a search for specific Imint. Albright used thephotos to provide the Security Council with evidence of the atrocities and to pressurize both theSecurity Council and the Clinton Administration into taking a harder line. She stated that theredefinitely was sharper and better Imint but this had not been released in order to safeguard thetechniques and the technology. 1617 Albright also reputedly used the photos in an attempt to win supportfor the idea of a larger peacekeeping operation in Bosnia with US involvement. 1618Other UN officials suspected more sinister motives. In August 1995, the UNMOs in Zagreborganized a press conference on large-scale human rights violations by the Bosnian Croats during therecently completed Operation Storm (carried out with US assistance). The room was full of journalistsand things were just about to start when an official from the US Embassy in Zagreb suddenly enteredand announced that a press conference was about to begin at the embassy where information would bereleased on aerial photos of possible mass graves around Srebrenica. The room emptied immediately.The UNMOs had an uneasy feeling that the announcement was planned to divert attention from theCroatian crimes. 1619 It is, however, likely that there were no sinister motives.There are various versions of how the photos eventually were discovered. In one versionSacirbey, the Bosnian Permanent Representative to the UN, plays a role. Very soon after the fall ofSrebrenica, Albright was tipped off by Sacirbey that atrocities had either already taken place or wereabout to do so. After consulting the Deputy National Security Advisor, Samuel Berger, she requestedassistance from the US intelligence community. This request probably did not get high priority: theNPIC, which had a special team for analysing photos satellite and U-2 photos, allegedly did not startsearching for the photos until mid-July. Priority rested with the VRS advance towards Zepa andGorazde and the anti-aircraft threat to the NATO planes.1620 The National Photographic InterpretationCenter is said to have discovered the first photos on 2 August. 1621 It revealed this on 4 August in theNational Intelligence Daily, a publication which is intended only for the eyes of the most senior policymakers.On 10 August, Albright took the photos to the Security Council. 1622Another version of the run-up to 10 August stemmed from interviews with Tune Bringa, amember of Akashi’s Analyses and Assessment Unit, and the former US Ambassador in Croatia, PeterGalbraith. 1623 Galbraith was recalled to Washington for talks between 5 and 18 July 1995. At thatmoment, two UN researchers were busy screening displaced persons in Tuzla. Bringa came into contactwith them and spoke with someone who had escaped the executions. She realized then that large-scale1615 ‘US Reveals Photographs of Apparent Mass Grave’, International Herald Tribune, 10/08/95 and ‘Up to 2,700 Massacred bySerbs, UN is Told’, International Herald Tribune, 11/08/95.1616 Confidential information (80).1617 Interview with M. Albright, 28/09/01. A request by SAGE for the release of other satellite photos of Srebrenica wasrejected by the court on 7 August 2001. For the judgement see: www.fas.org/sgp/news/2001/08/sage/html1618 Confidential interview (13).1619 Confidential interview (44).1620 M. Dobbs & R. Jeffrey Smith, ‘New Proof Offered of Serb Atrocities’, Washington Post, 29/10/95.1621 Rohde, A Safe Area, pp. 334 - 335.1622 Confidential information (54).1623 Interviews with Peter Galbraith, 23/07/99 and Tune Bringa, 13/07/00.