'This Is a Serious Security Blunder By the US Government'

What is it with these politicians and their desire to keep everyone informed of their every move? One of these days it'll get them killed.

A high-ranking member of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee has been criticised after blogging about his 'secret' congressional visit to Iraq on a social networking site.

Peter Hoekstra revealed that he was part of the delegation in numerous updates to his Twitter account.

'Just landed in Baghdad. I believe it may be first time I've had bb [BlackBerry] service in Iraq. 11th trip here,' he wrote.

Hoekstra, 55, continued to post details about the party's itinerary every few hours, despite the fact that none of the delegation were supposed to let anyone know the details of their travels.

His last post read: 'Moved into green zone by helicopter Iraqi flag now over palace.

'Headed to new US embassy. Appears calmer less chaotic than previous here [sic].'

It is not known whether Iraqi insurgents useTwitter - but if any of them do, they would no doubt be interested in the progress of a U.S. House Intelligence Committee, critics pointed out.

"This is a serious security blunder by the US government,' senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos Graham Cluley said.

'The Republican congressman is not only putting himself at risk with his careless Twittering, but also the people tasked with protecting him,' he added.

'Although these sites are evolving into great networking tools, security and common sense is crucial: even more so when you are a high-ranking government official.'

This is a reason why the Secret Service wanted Barack Obama to relinquish his BlackBerry. Maybe this will serve as a lesson.