Google Earth map shows the human cost of the War on Terror

[bigtree]

27th May 2009

At first glance this shimmering network of golden dots looks like another piece of satellite wizardry from Google Earth.

However, these extraordinary maps actually show the true human cost of the so-called War on Terror. Each dot - which is in fact a tiny human silhouette - represents a soldier killed in Afghanistan or Iraq.

The project, known as Map The Fallen (http://www.mapthefallen.org/), shows where, when and how each serviceman from the UK, U.S and coalition forces died since the start of the war in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001.

Created by a Google Earth engineer in his free time, the map draws a line across the world linking each service member’s home town to the place where they died serving their country.

Zooming in on a target home town reveals yellow figures, which represent the soldiers, positioned among recognisable points of interest. Scrolling over the figures triggers a pop-up box with the serviceman's name and age.

read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1187381/Extraordinary-Google-Earth-map-shows-human-cost-war-terror.html



This view from Google Earth maps the homes of British servicemen who died



This image shows how towns across the U.S. have suffered casualties



The programme extends a line from where the soldiers fell to their hometowns



Map the Fallen in Europe: The Google Earth programme draws lines between the homes of soldiers and connects to the place where they died

[Winterblues]

1. Nothing from Iraq or Afghanistan I see...How Convenient!!

:shrug:

[Echo In Light]

2. Cue the TV sitcom 'incidental' music (womp, womp, waaaaauuhhh)

[bigtree]

3. you mean tracking Afghan or Iraqi deaths?

That would be a huge project. Doesn't diminish this one to not have that available, imv. This was a project initiated by a Google employee, so I don't know if the exclusion by him is 'typical' or not.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

4. Huh?

Those are all soldiers killed in Iraq and Afganistan. They're showing the soldiers home towns.

[Winterblues]

8. I thought the title was the "human" costs of war

I didn't read where it was just American soldiers that paid a price..

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

9. Google says it's "Coalition Casualities"

[bigtree]

5. .

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. .

:-(

[Blue_Tires]

7. ttt

[file83]

10. The #66 soldier who died was very strange...

...it said that he "disappeared" from Guantanamo Bay and that his clothes were found near the water. They never found him and the Army declared him dead a month later.

That was early on in the war. That story sounds fishy as all hell.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Not to be too cynical but when are they producing the map for the civilian

casualties? Combined you'd have the true cost.

Oh and remember to add things like the Bali bombing, London, Spain, Lahore, you know the usual