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Military Taps Social Networking To Hunt Insurgents
Hugh Pickens writes "The New York Times has an interesting article about the thousands of analysts based in the United States for the Central Intelligence Agency and the US military who are showing how the Facebook generation's skills are being exploited — and paying dividends — in America's wars. Analysts monitor enemy communications and scan still images from drones in Afghanistan, then log the information into chatrooms, carrying on a running dialogue with drone crews and commanders and intelligence specialists in the field, who receive the information on computers and then radio the most urgent bits to troops on patrol. Marine intelligence officers say that during an offensive in February, the analysts managed to stay a step ahead of the advance, sending alerts about 300 or so possible roadside bombs, paving the way for soldiers to roll into Marja in southern Afghanistan with minimal casualties. 'To be that tapped into the tactical fight from 7,000 to 8,000 miles away was pretty much unheard of before,' said Gunnery Sgt. Sean N. Smothers, a Marine who stationed as a liaison to the analysts. New analysts, who were practically weaned on computers and interactive video games, have been crucial to hunting insurgents and saving American lives in Afghanistan. The Air Force, which has 4,000 analysts, is hiring 2,100 more. For the most part, the networking has been so productive that senior commanders are sidestepping some of the traditional military hierarchy and giving the analysts leeway in deciding how to use some spy planes."
Facebook generation
Please don't call us that. I thought 'Generation X' and 'Generation Y' were stupid names but now I long for alphabetic naming. I still fail to see the connection between their "social networking skills" (whatever the hell that is) and the increase in effective military intelligence. It looks to me like good communication and a drastic increase in surveilance technology is what the military is tapping. Just because social networking is rising to ~95% popularity in the younger generations doesn't mean that it's the reason for everything that generation does right.
How is this any different from World War II where several analysts received reports and images from war zones, discussed the new information, got on the radio to send new intelligence to forces and gave feedback to the collection unit of that intelligence? It sounds like the same process to me with just the next logical step up in all of these actions. Now they're using hardware to look at live video feeds. Now they're discussing it over a computer with people around the world. Now they're piloting the drone in real time. It's the advancement of technology, not Facebook that is driving this. The only stipulation is that you are familiar with a computer and the software on the computer -- which I would buy the younger generation are more comfortable around. But again, not a whole lot to do with posting on your friends wall that you got so plastered last night. And I don't really feel like social networking increases communications skills.
For all I know this could be the equivalent of LeBron James having a Facebook page and the New York Times saying, "Look at how well the NBA utilizes the skills of the Facebook generation."
My work here is dung.
or to help some future government spy on it's own citizens. oh wait, that's exactly what the FUCK they're doing.
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
I always thought that the trolls on facebook were actually Taliban texting on their mobiles from the middle of the Afghan desert!
All of the features described in this article were available long before the arise of 'social networking' and 'web2.0'. You just needed a dedicated application. Smells like someone's trying to pimp their war.
Blar.
Newsflash: governments already spy on their own citizens.
Yeah, but now it's trendy and hip!
[b.belong('us') for b in bases if b.owner() == 'you']
Will learn from their mistakes and learn to manipulate back.
Sooner or later they will attempt a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Fortitude with some web traffic and some leaks.
Todays cyber nerds are good with forums, chat and real time info, but do they have the feel for been played?
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
"People working together share information by talking to one another. Productivity rises. Film at 11."
It's great that they are able to use words to communicate, but this isn't exactly a new concept.
FarmVille with opium crops?
US Army - "We Tolerate The Cultivation Of Opium Poppies"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fww_b1YVdco
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
US Army - "We Tolerate The Cultivation Of Opium Poppies"
Yes, what a coincidence.
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)