Google earth refused permission to show US Bases

Link - Yahoo

Firstly, sorry if this has been posted before.

Im just wondering why they would object to this and make Google Earth delete any images? Surely if the base was that secret then they wouldnt have been allowed on to film in the first place?

Also, why would knowing the building layout affect security? If your a security threat, surely you wouldnt get near the inside of the base anyway?

Its my first thread, and ive probably cocked this up somehow, but it does seem odd to me that they would interfere like this?

Could this be a way to ensure theres no arguements about obscuring secret bases, as their rationale now seems to be all bases will be blobbed?

it's an obvious security risk and there's no way to prevent them from being photographed in the first place.

Knowing the layout of buildings is a huge strategic advantage to anyone wanting to get into a base unauthorized, plus any equipment that happened to be out would be free to inspection by anyone (including foreign governments). No matter how secret a new weapon, vehicle, etc is, it has to come outside eventually. There's also a reasonably good chance that a determined force could infiltrate a military base clandestinely. Look up a special operations group (primarily) made up of SEALS called Red Cell.

interesting topic though, censoring like this sets a standard that could be perverted to serve illegal purposes.