Google Earth is being used to help people survive sectarian violence in Baghdad. Advice websites have been set up by Iraqis to help others avoid the death squads. One of the tips they are giving is for people to draw up maps of their local area using the detailed imagery on Google Earth to plan escape routes and routes to block. It’s another example of the central role technology and the web is playing in the conflict. One of the best known websites, the Iraq League – which is run from the UK – also advises that people can use Google Earth to work out the most likely approach of their attackers. It begins by advising against being taken in the first place as “if they arrest you, you will be killed or tortured”. Of course, the insurgents are probably also using Google Earth to pick out their targets.
13 February, 2007