www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/06/al_qaeda_google -> www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/06/al_qaeda_google/
Get breaking Reg news straight to your desktop - click here to find o ut how Amid all the kerfuffle of late regarding Google Earth and its possible th reat to the national security of several jittery nations comes an intere sting snippet from an email purporting to be from a US Marine who served in Iraq. In it, he suggests that al-Qaeda is using Google Earth as a in telligence tool in its fight against the US military.
If you scroll to the end you'l l also see an assessment of our enemy's capability as well as those of our allies. It's also fairly long, so to cut to the chase, here's point five under the "Bad guy weapons" heading: Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld G PS units for navigation and "Google earth" for overhead views of our po sitions. One of biggest objections to the use of Google Earth as a military intelligence tool is the age of the images, and resolution is often an i ssue for detailed fact-finding.
Click Here Regarding how often Google updates stuff, have a look at this image of Ra sheed "airport" on the outskirts of Baghdad, as we featured it back in O ctober: Rasheed black helicopters And here it is now: Rasheed Airport as it is now Yes, the black helicopters have unlanded. To where, we know not, but note the resolution of the first snap. An interesting image, but its usefuln ess to an enemy - even if were right up-to-the-minute - is highly questi onable. Bootnote Another posting of the same email has the following intro, so the text ma y actually have been written by the Marine's father: Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and interested guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with my son Jordan, who was on his first leave since returning from Iraq. He will be returning to Iraq for a second tour in early '06 and has already re-enlisted early for 4 more years. He loves the Marine Corps and is actually looking forward to returning to Iraq. He saw and did a lot and the following is what he told me about weapo ns, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous info which may be of int erest to you. No politics here, jus t a Marine with a bird's eye view's opinions. Oh yes - and thanks very much to John Latham for the tip-off.
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