US military turns to Twitter for Afghan hard news

"What are you doing?" For the US military in Afghanistan, the answer to the latest social networking craze seems to be: "Killing Taliban." U.S. commanders launched their "social networking strategy" for Afghanistan Tuesday, using the hugely popular website Twitter to release information about some of their operations. The decision to use the latest Internet fad was meant to "engage non-traditional audiences directly with news, videos, pictures and other information from Operation Enduring Freedom," the U.S. military said, and to "preempt extremist propaganda." The military said it did not think using a site more commonly devoted to people talking about their social lives would trivialize the gravity of its operations in Afghanistan.