The government was concerned that the images, which included views of the entrances to military bases, were a threat. Gen. Gene Renuart, head of the military command responsible for homeland defense, said, “It actually shows where all the guards are. It shows how the barriers go up and down. It shows how to get in and out of buildings. I think that poses a real security risk for our military installations.”

What’s the big scare? Russian spy satellites? Al Qaeda operatives? Nope. It’s snaps that can be taken by any bloke walking down the street, but only when Google does it. As was shown when NYC recently tried to ban photography in the subways, the lowly camera has proven to be one of the government’s most feared “weapons”.

“… we have accommodated their requests.”

Yeah, no shit. That’s the proper response to one of the few entities that the Google juggernaut can’t stare down. But how laughable is it when the world’s mightiest army is afraid of some guy driving down the street snapping pics?