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This has the markings of the whiny wimp Reid and the Jack..aka… Murtha: “They’re making a mistake when they leak it because she decides on allocations for them,’’ referring to the Pentagon budget, written all over it……
Via Noah Shachtman:
The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops’ online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say.Military officials have been wrestling for years with how to handle troops who publish blogs. Officers have weighed the need for wartime discretion against the opportunities for the public to personally connect with some of the most effective advocates for the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq — the troops themselves. The secret-keepers have generally won the argument, and the once-permissive atmosphere has slowly grown more tightly regulated. Soldier-bloggers have dropped offline as a result.
The new rules (.pdf) obtained by Wired News require a commander be consulted before every blog update.
Matt at Blackfive:
The Bottom-Line to the this bad piece of regulation: The soldiers who will attempt to fly under the radar and post negative items about the military, mission, and commanders will continue to do so under the new regs. The soldiers who’ve been playing ball the last few years, the vast, VAST, majority will be reduced. In my mind, this reg will accomplish the exact opposite of its intent. The good guys are restricted and the bad continue on…Operational Security is of paramount importance. But we are losing the Information War on all fronts. Fanatic-like adherence to OPSEC will do us little good if we lose the few honest voices that tell the truth about The Long War.
From Michelle Malkin:
Reader Robert e-mails:
The crack down isn’t about Operational Security, it’s about preventing Senator Harry Reid from being criticized publicly by soldiers.
Reader Ken agrees:
Saw your article on the crackdown. Although it’s speculation on my part, I think my own vet background provides me enough experience to make the determination that the reasons for this are the armed forces member responses to Harry Reid’s comments and anything said or done by other elected Dems. I’m sure after receiving a slew of criticism that was identified as originating from any service man or woman, they contacted DoD and angrily issued complaints.
Milblogger Dadmanly weighs in big:
The [Army Regulation] not only directs Commanders (BN and above) and OPSEC Managers to ensure that no communications in a public forum or media (to include email) occur without OPSEC review, but directs UCMJ action against military violators and criminal prosecution against anyone else.Worse than that, as written it also means soldiers need to have their commanders review/censor every single email or IM they want to send. To comply, commanders would have no choice but to forbid their soldiers from using email or IM via the internet, or the Commander would have to go with them to the internet cafe.
Completely impractical, unrealistic, worse by far than prohibitions that are widely ignored, such as gambling. This one can only be complied with by severely curtailing one of the few highly successful MWR initiatives in combat theater — internet cafes.
Some commanders might legitimately interpret the AR to allow them to censor the outgoing personal mail of all soldiers under their command, or to prohibit telephone contact to anyone outside of their command.
The Military is making a terrible mistake with this AR. How many problems are really being caused by the status quo arrangement? What are the real risks, rather than the imagined ones, or the fear of whistle-blowing that may be justified? Then, consider the impact of what’s proposed.It will severely curtail positive news and voices from within the military. Critics within will STILL have direct lines to the NYT, Washington Post, ABC/CBS/NBC/PBS/NPR, they’ll only end up silencing pro-military and pro-victory voices.
Andi at Andi’s World adds:
I fully understand the need to be careful and cautious. The military has a duty to ensure that potentially sensitive information doesn’t fall into the hands of the wrong people. On the other hand, I question whether those who shape policy that applies to milbloggers fully understand the value and importance of milblogging, particularly combat blogging.I understand that it takes a while for a big bureaucracy, such as the Department of Defense, to embrace new mediums, and I have been heartened by their efforts, albeit slow, to use blogs, new media and other forms of technology to engage the public, but stories like this one leave many feeling that we’re taking one step forward and two steps back. It’s a difficult balance and it’s going to take some time to get it right. The problem is, of course, that we’re running out of time to get it right.
I’m no conspiracy theorist. I don’t believe the military is looking for ways to silence combat bloggers, but I do fear that they are making it prohibitive for some to blog, which has the effect of silencing voices which need to be heard.
My focus at Andi’s World is almost exclusively on troop/family support, so I can’t imagine that I would be regulated in any manner, but I’ll go read the new guidelines now. If it covers family members, there are a lot of us who should be reading.
At Bill Faith’s Old War Dogs, Vietnam Vet and milblogging poet Russ Vaughan posts a sample letter to send to your congressional rep:
Dear Senator/Congressman,I have just become aware of the military’s new restrictive policy on soldier weblogs (milblogs) with the reason for this policy being given that it is in the interest of operational security. While I am all for the highest degree of vigilance in matters of OPSEC, I feel that the new policy is heavy-handed and counterproductive for the following reasons:
1) Every website created by any service person is readily available for routine scrutiny by military monitoring agencies. At the first sign of misuse, the military has the capability to block the offending site and deal appropriately with its owner.
2) Milblogs are the 21st Century’s letters home from the war, a means of communicating from the combat zone with family and friends that far exceeds the capabilities, in both time and content, of previous wars. They are a definite morale-builder, both with serving troops and the folks back home keeping tabs on their loved ones.
3) Milblogs are tools for training and orientation from those who are there now to those who will be. Such exchanges can be highly beneficial for those deploying to combat for the first time. Such “pearls’ from the trigger-pullers to those yet untested can make the transition much easier and perhaps safer for the new warriors.
4) Under such prohibition, only the dutiful soldiers will be affected. The disgruntled and disobedient will evade this restriction and find ways to use such internet podiums to spew their harsh criticisms. Only one view, that most favorable to the military, will be stifled.
5) Last but not least, those affected by this restriction on freedom of speech are precisely those who are placing their lives on the line to preserve that very freedom. To deny them that right unnecessarily as is now being done with this new policy sends a very wrong message to the world about our true commitment to our Bill of Rights.
If a soldier wants to have a weblog, fine, let him or her do so after first signing a DoD agreement, making him keenly aware of the consequences of OPSEC violations and the and the penalties that attach to them. By signing that agreement he automatically registers with a central registry, maintained by a DoD agency with the responsibility to routinely monitor content of all milblogs owned by active duty personnel.
I’m not asking for official action here, simply a heads-up call from your office to your connections in the Pentagon to suggest they not throw out the baby with the bath water.
Sincerely,
Russ Vaughn
101st Airborne Division, Vietnam 65-66
Registered Voter in Your State/District
Maintaining a healthy suspicion of the media doesn’t mean you think Osama is secretly editing the New York Times.** It’s natural not to trust them, especially when you’re in a business like the military which involves keeping a lot of secrets. The military needs to use the media to get its message out, but for a gang that has gleefully compromised so many security secrets, a certain frosty reticence is in order.
It’s just a shame the military doesn’t trust its own members any more than they do the MSM. If cautioned about opsec, milbloggers could be a valuable asset that the army ought to encourage. Instead they’re treating their trusted front-line guys as liabilities, as liabilities, as greenhorns no more cautious or trustworthy than the New York Times. That’s got to hurt morale.
The other irony, of course, is that while all this is going on, the Army Public Affairs people are bending over backwards to get the New York Times to whisper, once in a great while, between the constant drone of defeatism and misery, some of the same things these milbloggers are shouting every day.
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Perri Nelson’s Website, The Random Yak, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, , Pet’s Garden Blog, Allie Is Wired, third world county, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Planck’s Constant, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, The Yankee Sailor, Gone Hollywood, and OTB Sports, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Update: Russ Vaughn sample letter to your congresscritters
Weblog: Bill’s Bites
The END of Military Blogging?
Update: Russ Vaughn sample letter to your congresscritters
Weblog: Old War Dogs
Keep Our Milbloggers Typing!
Weblog: Dave Lucas’ Notes
Silencing the Milbloggers Update: Dems Involved?
Weblog: Confederate Yankee
Miliblogs Silenced?
Weblog: Macsmind - Conservative Commentary and Common Sense
weblog: Captain’s Quarters
US Army cracks down on bloggers
Weblog: discarded lies - hyperlinkopotamus
The END of Military Blogging?
Weblog: Bill’s Bites
The END of Military Blogging?
Weblog: Old War Dogs
Re: Re: Re: New Guidelines
Weblog: MilBlogs
The End of Military Blogging
Weblog: Pal2pal
47 Responses to “It Looks Like The Democrats Did Manage To Shut Down Military Blogs”
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Makes sense. The military has always taken action against active duty soldiers who spoke against the operations… so if they will muzzle those soldiers, they should muzzle them all to be fair.
Tofu, then all Liberals should be muzzled, too.
Tofu, then all Liberals should be muzzled, too.
You’re anti-American.
3- Spot-ON SFL,
So often, the right-winger waricons try to claim that the troops support this Iraq occupation but the problem is, those who do not support it have their voices squashed by the same people. Which, then leads the voices of the active duty military to be nothing more than propaganda encouraging to drive the war machine.
Did either of you actually read the topic? It said that “the opportunities for the public to personally connect with some of the most effective advocates for the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq — the troops themselves.”
It also says ” Under such prohibition, only the dutiful soldiers will be affected. The disgruntled and disobedient will evade this restriction and find ways to use such internet podiums to spew their harsh criticisms. Only one view, that most favorable to the military, will be stifled.”
In other words your arguments are directly OPPOSITE what the topic says. You should be ecstatic about this, it means only YOUR VIEW will be heard.
5- The active duty dissenters (or the non-cheerleading Koolaid drinkers of the military, to you) have been actively pursued and made to shut-up under fear of a court marshal/dishonorable dischange (thus losing their beneifts).
No, the military does not (nor does Bush) have the right to claim the soldiers ’support’ the efforts if the same military squashes and silences dissent among the ranks.
“In other words your arguments are directly OPPOSITE what the topic says. You should be ecstatic about this, it means only YOUR VIEW will be heard.”
I wasn’t referring to the topic in my statement, I was referring to what pcd said.
Crap like that is just that. crap. it’s garbage and it’s actually an un-american opinion to hold.
But, he probably don’t/can’t/won’t understand that, so…
Tofu, you didn’t read the part of the post that said the dissenters aren’t abiding by the ban. There are far too many means to access the internet to stop them, but the ones who will abide by the ban will not break it. Therefore, you should be very pleased as only the dissenters will be posting their comments while those who are actually proud of what they are doing will not.
Your arguments are like those of the Gun Ban lobby which claims that banning guns will stop crime while refusing to acknowledge that criminals are criminals not because they obey the laws but because they BREAK them. They sound good in a soundbyte, but have no real substance.
8- What you are seeing is a desperation attempt as the tide has shifted against this Iraq occupation and efforts by the military to squelch all options by active duty military. Go USA!! doesn’t mesh well with what the general public believes of our actions in Iraq anymore, thus, they want to stop those cheerleaders too.
I am not sure if this order is in the first place politically motivated or can be associated with any left or right attitude. If there are such many blogs by (active) soldiers on the net there may always be the danger that confidential information is (unintentionally) revealed.
If a Private John Smith tells the world that he is bored because of having to clean his tank all day long in Basrah, that is already an essential information for the enemy…
6- Who has been shut down and threatened? Do you have examples? Cause I have not ever heard of any military blogger being shut down.
Tofu and SFL, the two of you don’t want to hear what the majority of soldiers want to say, so the two of you want THEM shut down so as not to prove you wrong again.
You two gay blades just hate the military because it can’t be a gay playground like you two would love to enjoy. It is good people like you are kept out of the military. You two are cancers not only to the military but to society as a whole.
I hope John Galt can check in. He’d be an unimpeachable authority on this. I know the gay supporters here do not want to hear what John has to say.
Another blogger being sued
Yesterday I blogged about an American blogger in South Korea who was being sued for libel. Much closer to home, South Florid Journalist author of The Daily Pulp Blog, Bob Norman, is being sued along with his employer. Here is a link to the case.
Send them all back
Pat Buchanan is xenophobic but then I think that applies to much of the immigration debate that’s going on right now. TFM is all for legal immigration, because this country needs workers.
[…] Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, Blue Star Chronicles, Stuck On Stupid, The Pink Flamingo, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Right Voices, Pursuing Holiness, OTB Sports, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe. […]
Roy Pearson is an Idiot
The world is filled with sick puppies. My telecom company recently received an email from a customer who complained that he was unable to connect with a mobile number in the Caribbean for two hours, leaving him so distressed that he lost interest in h…
[…] Trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, Perri Nelson’s Website, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Pursuing Holiness, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe. Technorati Tags: American Nutrition, cat food, Critters, dog food, FDA, health, Life, Menu Foods, Natural Balance, pet food recall, Poisoned Pet FoodAmerican Nutrition cat food Critters dog food FDA health Life Menu Foods Natural Balance pet food recall Poisoned Pet Food […]
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May Day… “Earn Your Citizenship Like These Folks Post”
Besides all the dug up by the media heartrending weeping children/sick mother stories, we’ll see a lot of stories today of folks “DEMANDING” citizenship to our country. They have no “right” to demand anything………
Special Request: Help Alaa come here legally from Iraq
I don’t easily jump on bandwagons, and immigration issues are one of my pet peeves. But in this case, I think this clearly shows the unfair nature of the present system, and it deserves some attention.
In an age where illega…
[…] Trackposted to Right Pundits, Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, The Random Yak, guerrilla radio, Adam’s Blog, Stuck On Stupid, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, , Pet’s Garden Blog, Rightlinx, Faultline USA, Allie Is Wired, third world county, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, stikNstein… has no mercy, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Planck’s Constant, Dumb Ox Daily News, High Desert Wanderer, Right Voices, Gone Hollywood, The Yankee Sailor, and OTB Sports, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe. […]
Judge Roy L Pearson - Sometimes the Customer is dead wrong
Roy L Pearson, Jr. the most hated and reviled man in America, beating out even Osama Bin Laden
Here is my trackback blocked: http://potbellystove.blogspot.com/2007/05/more-fools.html
We Must Extend Hospitalities To Muslims…
I came across a story concerning the muslim population in our universities here in America.
Katherine Kersten of the Star Tribune, has covered this story concerning the Minneapolis Community and Technical College, who have plans to install washing f…
Thank you Matthias You actually understand a very good reason for doing this.
It’s obvious effort to censor dissent.
:mad::roll:
We Win, They Lose
�When it came to defeating the Soviets, Ronald Reagan made it simple: �We win, they lose.� Before the American Troops left to face the German Armies, Eisenhower told them, �Full victory, nothing less.�
[…] Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, Leaning Straight Up, Pet’s Garden Blog, Rightlinx, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, stikNstein… has no mercy, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Right Pundits, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, The Random Yak, guerrilla radio, Adam’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao’s Blog, , Conservative Cat, , Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Faultline USA, Allie Is Wired, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Planck’s Constant, The Right Perspective, High Desert Wanderer, Gone Hollywood, The Yankee Sailor, and OTB Sports, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe. Filed under Politics, Other Blogs | | Trackback URI […]
At Blogsome they are deaf, not blind [Weekend Open Trackback]
Three weeks ago, we wrote about Captchas, those barriers to site accessibility, preventing blind or visually impaired users from accessing a protected resource. But not only. These captchas also create barriers for the much larger number of people with…
McDermott, Boehner and Ethics
simply casting your vote and saying nothing would be more honest and ethical
…
Traditionally, military mail has been censored, to prevent leaking secrets to the enemy. I see no harm in reviewing email & blogs before posting, as long as it is only to prevent the enemy from getting info, though it doesn’t sound like this is the reason.
Nice
interesting
Cool…
Sorry
Nice!
Sorry
Interesting…
interesting
Nice!
Cool…
This one makes sence “One’s first step in wisdom is to kuesstion everything - and one’s last is to come to terms with everything.”
Nice!
Interesting…
Nice!
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce