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Re: Maps Withdrawn from National Archive Could Save Lives



My God, how gullible some of us can be.

Thinly veiled propaganda from those anti-mine extremists.

--
Patrick J. Prior
obmar@megapipe.net

Eddie Becker wrote:

Ian Thomas, the map-maker, is off to Eritrea for the United Nations, to map mine fields and the
famine.  The relevant maps, essential to his work, have since Sept 11, been withdrawn from the
National Archives of the United States.  Here's his story.  Eddie Becker

-----------------------

Ian Thomas,    ian_thomas@maptricks.com   Washington DC Phone until Wednesday March 10th:
(202)986-5189  After March 10th:
US Telephone Number to relay Eritrea: 1 212 963 5921 (wait for tone then 6280)
Or Direct 291-1-150411  ex 6280
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maps, Landmines, Famines & why secrecy kills people.....

This email is about an important map censorship story that involves many lives. I will ! very soon
begin working as a UN volunteer cartographer at the United Nations Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE). ESRI, a US based software company has donated computers and multiple copies of ArcGIS,
it's latest Geographic Information Software to support the peace keeping and humanitarian relief
mission. Please find later below a short summary of the extent of the humanitarian problems that
Eritrea and Ethiopia now face.
The maps in question currently sit in the National Archives  (http://www.nara.gov) in College
Park, Maryland and could provide essential information for de-mining and famine relief and were until
recently accessable to anybody who asked. However, the US military mapping agency NIMA (the
National Imagery and Mapping Agency) has recently restricted access to these and similar maps. It is
quite clear that quick and prompt release of the information by NIMA (the Nat! ional Imagery and
Mapping Agency) has the potential to SAVE LIVES especially of the lives of people involved in de-mining
operations. By comparing these old photographic maps with current very high resolution satellite
imagery from the Ikonos satellite (see http://www.spaceimaging.com) it will be possible to
accurately locate many signs of past land mining activities such as trench lines, shell craters etc over
the whole duration of the thirty years of war that has wrecked both countries. Very accurate
locational info!
rmation is essential to ensure safety during de-mining operations.  The maps will also help plan
the transportation and storage of emergency food and water supplies and other measures necessary
for famine prevention and relief. I believe that the humanitarian case for release of this very
important mapping series clearly outweighs any possible security issues i! nvolved in the public release
of aerial photographsthat are more than thirty years old and in some cases more than 40 years old.
However, my request was denied and I was told I was not allowed to see the maps. Until very
recently there was no restrictions on these maps. I have requested and viewed them before less than one
year ago. NIMA's reponse will result in considerable bureaucratic delay and there is still no
guarantee of success.  I note that NIMA has had plenty of opportunity and has failed to provide the
United Nations or any other relief agency with these maps despite the accumulated famine and
landmine relat!
ed deaths of millions of people in the region over the years.  NIMA is too focused in its primary
role as a military mapping agency and is not able to see the considerable value of it's products
outside of this role in the field of environmental protection and humanitarian issues.  So, I would
prefer t! o continue my request on two fronts by making a personal public appeal for support and by
also using official UN channels. I also hope that by publicizing this case I may help other
researchers who require access to US Government maps but will now be denied access.  The most
frustrating part is that until very recently these maps were freely accessible and could be copied upon
request at the National Archives by anybody who asked.  I am very concerned that these maps and many
of the other similar maps that have now being restricted by NIMA are essential research resources
for anybody conducting humanitarian or environmental work around the world. The denial of access
response f!
rom Paul Polk, the NIMA Public Release Officer is attached. The request, made on Tuesday March
2nd,  was for access and photographic copying of the following map series at the National Archives
(http://! www.nara.gov) in College Park, Maryland:

RG77/RG 456 Y825 Ethiopia Pictomaps 25K 1971-72 DMA
Area 1/8, 11/12 16 AF 58-3 photographed in 1963-67 196 sheets
Blue Nile River            1957    30 sheets I am willing to consider any legal options available.
I would also be willing to talk to any journalists or congressional staffers who may be interested
in the story. Please feel free to distribute this letter to those who may be interested. Yours
faithfully,  Ian Thomas
GIS Analyst, UN Volunteer Program
United Nations Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea
Joint GeoCell
PO Box 5805
Asmara, Eritrea UNITED NATIONS (UNMEE) ext 6280
US Telephone relay: 1 212 963 5921 (wait for tone 6280)
Or Direct 291-1-150411  ex 6280
Washington DC Phone until Wednesday March 10th: (202)986-5189
----------------------------------------------------------------------! -----------------

Background Notes: "I will be working as a
volunteer cartographer for the United Nations to Eritrea and Ethiopia.  I will be there for three
months making maps of land mines and helping to plan logistics for emergency food and water supply
using GIS (Geographic Information System) software donated to the UN by ESRI (http://www.esri.com).
The Famine Early Warning System forecasts for both Ethiopia and Eritrea this year are slightly
optimistic but yet another El Nino event is predicted which has the potential to yet again bring
widespread disruption to rainfall patterns across the Horn of Africa.  Both countries have already
been suffering severe prolonged droughts for more than three years. Under global climate change
predictions the countries that will be hit first and hardest are those at the edges of the deserts in
the Sahel !
regions where only a small change in precipitati! on means the difference between crop failure and
success.  It is ironic as these poverty stricken countries have contributed least to the build-up
of greenhouse gasses but will feel the worse effects of man-made global climate change." Tensions
between Eritrea and Ethiopia related to a border dispute escalated in May 1998, resulting in armed
conflict the following month. Hostilities erupted again in February 1999 and May 2000. Eritrea and
Ethiopia reached a cease-fire agreement in June 2000 and signed a peace agreement on December 12,
2000. The United Nations authorized a peacekeeping force along the Eritrean-Ethiopian border in
September 2000. The first peace observers arrived that month and peacekeeping troops began
deployment in January 2001. LANDMINESEritrea, a country of 3.5 million people, is infested with about two
million mines and unknown units of unexploded ordnance (UXO),  "this translates to almost one land
mine p! er!
person - one of the highest levels of contamination per capita in the world". The whole of
Eritrea had been infested by land mines during the 1961-91 war of liberation, and that the Eritrean
humanitarian de-mining programme had cleared about half a million of them between 1991 and 1998. This
achievement has, however, been significantly reversed during the recent war with Ethiopia. A
higher percentage of children are injured by landmines in Eritrea than elsewhere, possibly because
Eritrean boys start herding at a rather young age. Destruction of social and economic resources was
extensive. Eritrea's most fertile agricultural regions became battlegrounds and suffered severe
devastation. Much of Eritrea also faced a third year of drought, further disrupting agricultural
production. While the war has ended, the effects of the conflict will be felt in Eritrea's most
important agricultural areas for years to come, particularly where land! mines need to be cleared before
farmers ca!
n return to their homes and resume cultivation.   DEMOBILIZATION & REFUGEESDuring the war, more
than one million Eritreans, approximately one-third of the country's total population, were
displaced from their homes. There is an enormous need to demobilize 200,000 soldiers and reintegrate them
quickly and effectively into the society and economy. A particular concern is to prevent the
spread of HIV/AIDS, especially as demobilizing soldiers who may have been exposed to the disease return
to their communities. Within the last year 40,000 Eritrean refugees have returned from Sudan where
many had stayed for close to 30 years.  Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are still returning to
their homes in the former war zones. However, there are still 47,605 IDPs in camps in Gash Barka,
Debub, and Northern Red Sea Zones.  Helping these returnees and displaced people restart their !
lives and livelihoods will require considerable effort. FAMINEThere was a total failure of the
long-cycle cr!
ops due to poor rainfall in the Azmera season last year, The World Food Programme estimated that
10 million people were at risk of starvation in Ethiopia in 2000 but later reported that a famine
had been averted.  A survey of mortality in the Gode district, at the epicenter of the famine in
the Somali region of Ethiopia found, from December 1999 through July 2000 that 54.3% deaths were
among children younger than 5 years and 24.6% were among children aged 5 to 14 years. The crude
mortality rate was 3.2/10 000 per day (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.4-3.8/10 000 per day), which is
3 times the cutoff used to define an emergency. The mortality rate for children younger than 5
years was 6.8/10 000 per day (95% CI, 5.4-8.2/10 000 per day). Approximately 77% of deaths occurred
before major relief interventions began in April! /May 2000. Wasting contributed to 72.3% of all
deaths among children younger than 5 years. Measles alone or in combination with wasting accounted for
22.0% of!
deaths among children younger than 5 years and for 16.7% of  deaths among children aged 5 to 14
years. Farmers need long-cycle crop seeds immediately.  To prevent unnecessary deaths, the
humanitarian response to famine needs to be rapid, well coordinated, and based on sound epidemiological
evidence. Public health interventions, such as mass measles vaccination campaigns with coverage
extended to children aged 12 to 15 years should be implemented as the first priority. The prevalence
of wasting and undernutrition among children and adults, respectively, should be assessed in all
prolonged, severe famines.

Current Food Security Updates for Ethiopia and Eritrea can be found at:
http://www.fews.net/centers/c_center.cfm?cy_id=er&mewr_id=0&lang_id=en&rs_id=0&submit=no
http://www.fews.net/centers/c_center.cfm?cy_id=et&mewr_id=0&lang_id=en&rs_id=0&submit=no

---------------------------------

From: "Polk, Paul" <PolkP@nima.mil>To: "'ian_thomas@maptricks.com'"
<ian_thomas@maptricks.com>Subject: RE: Request for NIMA Approval for NA! RA Access

Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 10:30:23 -0500 Mr. Thomas,
Subsequent to our discussion last Tuesday, 2 April, I have found that therequested Series Y825,
1:25,000 scale picto-maps of Ethiopia, are in fact "LimitedDIstribution" products and therefore
cannot be made available to you asrequested. In regards to requests from the United Nations (UN) to
the National Imageryand Mapping Agency (NIMA) for products and services; all such requestsshould be
vetted through the United Nations Field Operations Directorate(FOD) in New York prior coming to
NIMA.  Per previous guidance from the UN,FOD must validate any requirement for support from the U.S.
Government. Uponvalidation, FOD  prior to submits the requests to the U.S. Mission.  U.S.Mission
then forwards those requests to NIMA for consideration. . I hope that this information proves
useful to yo!
u. PAUL R. POLKNIMA Public Affairs Office  Public Release Officer  -----Origina! l Message-----From:
ian_thomas@maptricks.com [mailto:ian_thomas@maptricks.com] Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2002 5:44
PMTo: nimanews@nima.milSubject: Request for NIMA Approval for NARA AccessImportance: HighAttn: Paul
PolkNIMA, Public Affairs Office4600 Sangamore RoadBethesda, MD 20816-5003Re: Request to Allow Access
and Photographic Copy ofRG77/RG 456 Y825 Ethiopia Pictomaps 25K 1971-72 DMAArea 1/8, 11/12 16 AF
58-3 1963-67 196 sheetsBlue Nile River            1957    30 sheetsDear Paul,Follo! wing our
telephone conversation today, Tuesday March 2nd I would liketo make a personal request for access and
photographic copying of thefollowing record group at the National Archives:RG77/RG 456 Y825 Ethiopia
Pictomaps 25K 1971-72 DMAArea 1/8, 11/12 16 AF 58-3 1963-67 196 sheetsBlue Nile River
1957    30 sheetsThis personal request is made on behalf of the United Nations Mission toEthiopia
and Eritr!
ea (UNMEE) where I will be working as a cartographer.I believe that UNMEE does not currently have
copies of this particularpictomap series and that it will greatly help support the mission in
variousactivities such as land mine clearance.I will be leaving early next week for Eritrea and expect
to be there onWednesday March 9th.Many thanks for your attention to this request, Yours
faithfully,Ian Thomas(202) 986-5189

---------------------------------
----- Original Message ----- From: "Aftergood, Steven" <saftergood@fas.org>To:
<secrecy_news@lists.fas.org>Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 3:45 PMSubject: Secrecy News --
04/05/02SECRECY NEWSfrom the FAS Project on Government SecrecyVolume 2002, Issue No. 28April 5, 2002**
ACCESS TO HISTORICAL MAPS DENIED AT ARCHIVES** DECLASSIFICATION SPENDING REPORT MAY BE ELIMINATED**
WEBSTER COMMISSION REPORT ON FBI SECURITY PRACTICESACCESS TO HISTORICAL MAPS DENIED AT ARCHIVESA
researcher working on a mine-clearing project in Africa recently wentto the National Archives to
review an old map of the region where he isworking.  He was told that the map, produced by the
now-defunct A! rmy MapService in the 1960s, could no longer be made publicly available, uponthe instructions
of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA).The researcher, who preferred not to be named,
told Secrecy News that hewas distressed by the new barriers to access and said they will set
backthe progress of his demining!
project.Until recently, he said, there had been no difficulty in obtaining themaps he needed.
"Before, it was just a question of asking for them, andit was easy, and it was great," he said.One
can still ask, but it is no longer easy or great.Strictly speaking, said Paul Polk of NIMA public
affairs, there has been"no change in policy" regarding access to the historical maps, only
morecareful implementation of the existing guidelines by both the NationalArchives and the Library of
Congress.It has long been government policy, Mr. Polk explained, that small scalemaps (1:500,000 or
smaller) are generally made available to ! the public,medium scale maps (around 1:250,000) sometimes
are made available, andlarge scale maps (defined as greater than 1:250,000) generally are notmade
available to the public."Large scale maps are usually restricted from public use because theygive
the U.S. military an operational advantage if they are not madewidely available," Mr. Polk said.In
the past,!
NIMA recently discovered, the National Archives wasimproperly granting public access to such
unreleased maps, he said.That is no longer the case."You can always request access to particular maps,
and we'll considersuch requests," he said, noting that a number of large-scale maps are infact
available at the Archives.However, the Africa researcher observed that the Defense Mapping Agencymap
index that ws formerly available in the Archives Reading Room is nolonger there, making it harder
to formulate specific requests.The new access limitations on historical maps only
coinciden! tallyfollowed September 11, Mr. Polk said, and are not a consequence ofheightened security.  The only
ongoing change in NIMA access policy thatis attributable to September 11 is the withholding of
MilitaryInstallation Maps that portray the restricted areas at certain U.S.military
facilities.******************************Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by theFederation of
America!
n Scientists.To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, send email to majordomo@lists.fas.org withthis command
in the body of the message:     subscribe secrecy_newsSecrecy News is archived at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html_______________________Steven Aftergood! Project on
Government SecrecyFederation of American Scientistsweb:    www.fas.org/sgp/index.htmlemail:
saftergood@fas.orgvoice:  (202) 454-4691
 


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