Observations On Obfuscation

[tocqueville]

April 22, 2006

#posted by zack

Observations On Obfuscation

Camouflage has come a long way since the dawn of organized warfare. From the sand-colored uniforms of the Ancient Greeks, to the forest costumes of the Celts, to modern urban uniforms that can render a subject virtually invisible on a city street, camouflage has become an integral part of conflict. Here are some parts of its illustrious history of which you might not be aware:

The word Camouflage comes from the Ancient Persian phrase Kam Uflaz, meaning "we are attacked the land". This phrase came into use after Saracen convoys were repeatedly attacked by bandits in northwest India who disguised themselves as piles of dirt.

After the discovery of a listening device disguised as a rock outside the Russian embassy in London, Russian authorities removed and destroyed rocks near embassies in 26 countries. It is not known if these rocks contained anything out of the ordinary.

During the US Airspace lock-down of 1962 prohibiting passenger travel by air, a Hungarian agent managed to reach US soil by disguising himself as a box of powdered mashed potatoes. He was discovered and captured when customs officers noticed two boxes of powdered potatoes in the hold, but only one on the manifest.

One hundred and sixty cow suits were manufactured by a Pennsylvania defense contractor for use by the SAS and OSS in surveillance of the French countryside, but were never used. It seemed the firm had modeled the suits after the pattern of the Dutch Belt breed of bovine common in Pennsylvania, while the species prevalent in France's farmland was the mottled Holstein variety.

Due to the light reflection of British Viridian Heather, it is very hard to blend into. For this reason, 18th century tacticians planted as much of it as they could all over Europe. It is believed that over 50 other species of low-lying plants became extinct as a result.

After reading Shakespeare's Macbeth, King Charles I ordered all troops fighting in areas bordered by woodland to carry a tree branch to act as camouflage. Charles vastly overestimated his troops' ability to confuse the enemy, and countless slowed and weakened British legions were cut to pieces by Irish archers at the comparatively minor skirmish at Dunhamshire, 1632.

http://www.gullible.info/archive.php?m=2006-04#post560

[OneBlueSky]

1. as I always say . . .

"Eschew obfuscation!" . . . :)