Via telegraph.co.uk -
Terrorists attacking British bases in Basra are using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth internet tool to pinpoint their attacks, say Army intelligence sources.
Documents seized during raids on the homes of insurgents last week uncovered print-outs from photographs taken from Google. The satellite photographs show in detail the buildings inside the bases and vulnerable areas such as tented accommodation, lavatory blocks and where lightly armoured Land Rovers are parked.
Written on the back of one set of photographs taken of the Shatt al Arab Hotel, headquarters for the 1,000 men of the Staffordshire Regiment battle group, officers found the camp's precise longitude and latitude.
"This is evidence as far as we are concerned for planning terrorist attacks," said an intelligence officer with the Royal Green Jackets battle group.
"Who would otherwise have Google Earth imagery of one of our bases?
"We are concerned that they use them to plan attacks. We have never had proof that they have deliberately targeted any area of the camp using these images but presumably they are of great use to them. "We believe they use Google Earth to identify the most vulnerable areas such as tents."
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Tip of the Hat to Fergie for the link.
Information is power, sometimes that power is good and sometimes that power is bad. It shouldn't come as a surprise that certain groups embrace technology as a method of increasing efficiency. It isn't just Google Earth. You have NASA Worldwind, TerraServer-USA and even commercial companies that can provide sat imagery to paying customers.
Is Google Earth equal to unmanned drones feeding the US military instant on the ground intelligence? Of course not. But this is helpful to those with the intent of targeting an infrastructure target.
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