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InsideGoogle
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
 
Journalist's Life Saved When Iraqi Militants Google Him
National Nine News reports that an Australian journalist in Iraq who was captured had militants check his articles out on Google to save his life. The four Sunni militants and ex-Iraqi soldiers who captured John Martinkus thought he was an American informer. Too prove he was harmless, he told them to Google him, and when they read his articles, they believed him. Thank god the terrorists have internet connections.

Comments:
In a day when fathers, brothers, and sons are being held by their hair as their head is slowly sawed off on video -- i'm not sure such an entry as this is in good taste.

Perhaps you might forward this entry to their surviving mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and children to understand why.

Tragedy is real, even in Google(disney)land where your stock options are a more pressing concern, good taste aside.

rob@egoz.org
 
I'm sorry, but making a post about somebody's good fortune should not be considered in bad taste. I did not think the article made light of other people's misfortunes or of the current situation in Iraq, rather, focused on something fortunate.

wanderingchrisob-one@yahoo.com
 
This was the funniest thing I've read in a long time. Thanks for posting it.

If only the Iraqi's had Googled on "french militory victories" before relying on the French veto at the UN's Security Council. ;)
 
I don't think its in poor taste, because I don't think its all that funny. I think its very interesting, and an ironic lesson about the world we live in; where terrorists respect you more for your Google footprint than the fact that you have a family that will be crushed by your death. In fact, the terrorists are more likely to kill a little girl than a person with a good Google footprint.
 
The thing I found funny was that the terrorists were ready to believe the guy was a coalition spy... until they Googled him!

How did they know he was really the person he claimed to be?

How did they know the Google results weren't part of the cover story?

What did the terrorists expect from a Google search if he was a spy? A graduation list from the CIA Spy Academy with his name on it?

The humor (as I see it) stems from the implicit lack of faith in coalition intelligence.
 
Actually, you can trust Google, because I can't picture the CIA with an SEO unit. Can you imagine that? The CIA creating a bunch of fake sites with fake news stories all linking to each other just to fool terrorists?
 
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