“The US National Security Agency (NSA) built one of its largest listening stations on top of the hill, rumored to be part of the global ECHELON intelligence gathering network. “The Hill”, as it was known colloquially by the many American soldiers who worked there around the clock and who commuted there from their quarters in the American Sector, was located in the British Sector. Prior to establishing the first permanent buildings there in the very late 1950s, Mobile Allied listening units had driven to various other locales throughout West Berlin hoping to gain the best vantage point for listening to Soviet, East German, and other Warsaw Pact nations military traffic. One such unit drove to the top of Teufelsberg and discovered a marked improvement in listening ability. This discovery eventually led to a large structure being built atop the hill, which would come to be run by the NSA (National Security Agency). At the request of US government, the ski lifts were removed because they allegedly disturbed the signals. The station continued to operate until the fall of East Germany and the Berlin Wall, but after that the station was closed and the equipment removed. The buildings and radar domes still remain in place.” (via THE ARCHITECTURE OF VILLAINS » Blog Archive » Teufelsberg via bldgblog)
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life:
Here, in a LIFE.com exclusive featuring his recent photographs from Nasiriyah in southwestern Iraq, Getty photographer Joe Raedle shares his own thoughts on the war’s still unreckoned toll:
“What I find when I am shooting here, is that the soldiers did their job. Politicians from all sides will put their own spin on how this turned out. But for those Marines I photographed eight years ago, who took so many casualties in an attempt to open and hold that bridge for the rest of the forces to get through, I guess that’s all that can be said about the sacrifices made. The Army and the Marines did their job”
- Joe Raedle
(see more — Leaving Iraq: A Photographer Reflects)
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