Canadian soldiers warned of Internet risk

OTTAWA, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents are gleaning intelligence from soldiers' Internet postings from Afghanistan, a Canadian general in Ottawa said.

Canadian army Brig. Gen. Peter Atkinson, the top strategic adviser to the chief of defense staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, cited such Web sites as Facebook, YouTube and personal blogs as tools that insurgents scour for information, The Toronto Star reported.

"Due to its collaborative content contribution, anybody can add to the content, providing a compilation of details on a specific incident, like the descriptions of a casualty, photos, locations and news articles contributed by several sources," Atkinson said. "Because of the speed and capacity of today's technology, we are virtually providing the enemy with his battle damage assessment instantly."

He said insurgents glean as much as 80 percent of their intelligence from such postings.

The Canadian military has come under criticism for its secrecy about its activities in the NATO mission. Earlier this month, it came to light the military hadn't divulged for three months it was no longer turning detainees over to Afghan authorities after abuses had been reported.