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Submitted by: Bill Hickey
NCVA Listmaster
NRT-0009 Google-Earth used by terrorists:
It should not come as a surprise to anyone that terrorists are using technology to achieve their ends. Terrorists attacking British bases in Basra are using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth Internet tool to pinpoint their attacks, say British Army Intelligence sources quoted in an online news article. (So, one might wonder WHY they are admitting that this capability is so successful...but that's another story. Stand By - although Google-Earth's images are NEVER real-time, they vary in age - in general they would be "good enough" for planning purposes until a scouting mission could be accomplished to confirm the critical details. This means we could all be seeing some adjustments in the GoogleEarth viewer capabilities to limit the use for these elements. Raids on the homes of insurgents recently uncovered printouts of satellite photographs taken from Google that show in detail the buildings inside the bases and vulnerable areas such as tents, shower facilities, and where lightly armored Land Rovers are parked.
Written on the back of one set of photographs taken of the Shatt al Arab Hotel, headquarters for a British unit, officers found the camp's precise latitude and longitude.
One soldier has reportedly been killed in the past six months following a mortar attack and there have been several injuries. Since the maps were found, intelligence chiefs have been keeping track of where rounds land to see if the insurgents are using them to pinpoint weakly protected areas. The British camps experience mortar and rocket attacks on a daily basis. Salvos are fired from up to four miles away and are increasingly accurate.
As of 20 JAN07, Google has blotted out certain locations at the request of the British military. The following link will give you the latest information, but it may well be a perishable link.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/20/wgoogle20.xml
Last Modified: Sunday, 21-Jan-2007 23:17:02 EST