maverick4

We condemn countries like China, but we're pretty much doing something similar now:

http://www.wired.com/politics/online.../army_bloggers

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.

"This is the final nail in the coffin for combat blogging," said retired paratrooper Matthew Burden, editor of The Blog of War anthology. "No more military bloggers writing about their experiences in the combat zone. This is the best PR the military has -- it's most honest voice out of the war zone. And it's being silenced."

Army Regulation 530--1: Operations Security (OPSEC) (.pdf) restricts more than just blogs, however. Previous editions of the rules asked Army personnel to "consult with their immediate supervisor" before posting a document "that might contain sensitive and/or critical information in a public forum." The new version, in contrast, requires "an OPSEC review prior to publishing" anything -- from "web log (blog) postings" to comments on internet message boards, from resumes to letters home.

Failure to do so, the document adds, could result in a court-martial, or "administrative, disciplinary, contractual, or criminal action."

Pujo

Is this just for people in a war zone, or all members of the Army? All letters home have to be read? Man, that sucks... if you want to tell your wife what you're going to do to her the next time the two of you are alone, your supperior officer is going to know also.

QuiGon

No *****, sherlock... speaking from personal experience, when you join the military you forfeit your rights. Only a clueless liberal could ever be surprised by something like this or consider it news. To quote Gene Hackman in Crimson Tide: "We're here to defend democracy, not practice it."

By the way, are you man enough to admit you were wrong when you said the US government orchestrated the arrest of 15 British sailors and marines...? Or are you just a little chicken not even man enough to admit he was wrong about something...?

PressCoverage

actually, it is news... if you bothered to read the story amid your hourly fascist hissy fits, you'd have noticed the directive was issued April 19...

please, whatever you do, stop speaking from "personal experience"... because your personal experience seems to translate to nothing but hypocrisy, intolerance, hatred and irrationality...

sdaniels7114

The war's four years old. If this is so important why wait this long to implement it? I can't believe that the Bush admin. is incompetent to the point of just now learning that 'loose lips sink ships.' So I doubt this new directive is founded on military strategy. Sounds to me like the news going home has turned more negative and the Bush bunch is trying to save their fellow Neo-cons from as much political damage as possible.

QuiGon

Boy, you liberals are just the masters of the obvious. Here's a newsflash: When you are in the military, you do not have the right to free speech. You are not allowed to openly and freely criticize your orders, your military commanders or your civilian superiors.

It's not a matter of soldiers blogging their location and patrol routes or any strategy. It's a matter of them not being allowed to blog criticism of what they are doing. This is a 5,000 year old rule being applied to 21st century technology.

Now if you are really good, I'll explain to you the difference between "weather" and "whether". But I doubt you'll understand.

DarrylS

Dear Mr. Angry ex military man,

Good to see your command of the english language, we all can benefit from your correction thank you oh so much. That must be because of your military service..

What rules apply to the ban on Marines getting tattoos??

Thank you for your service most don't brag about it, but apparently you do.

Sincerely,

Wondering and wandering in Liberal la la land...

__________________
"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

Pujo

I know Qui Gon's not speaking to me, but for everyone else's benefit, soldiers have never been denied the right to privately criticize their commander or mission, say, in a letter to their wife. A soldier publishing a critical blog, I agree, is something the military has the right to prevent, but what they say in their letters home (provided they're not revealing secret information) is their business. The more they try to control soldiers in ways they shouldn't, the fewer people will enlist.

Patters

QuiGon's right. It's similar to the Nazi claim, "I was only following orders." In other words, he's defending the point of view that we have the right to shut soldiers up even if they think what they are doing is morally wrong.

While the military can deny the right to free speech, there are cases working there way up to try to sort out to what extent the military can do that. For instance, it's clear that within the military, you may need to restrict speech to protect secrets, maintain morale, etc. But, whether this includes personal letters to friends, postings on blogs, and public statements is something the military is trying to sort out, and I wouldn't be surprised if it went to the SC. For a less simplistic response than QuiGon's, this article is quite good:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NG4CO11OO1.DTL

QuiGon

"English" is supposed to be capitalized.
Hey, you were the one that felt it necessary to criticize my spelling, which is pretty laughable since you are really damn bad yourself. I have never once commented on another's spelling, grammar or punctuation on this board (Lord knows I make plenty of my own mistakes) until you felt it necessary to say (paraphrasing from memory) "At least I know how to spell ax, and it isn't with a z".
Your question is very poorly worded. They recently made a rule saying you can't get tattoos in the service. IMHO, that's a stupid rule but I think it pretty much speaks for itself.
I have never once bragged about serving in the military. In fact I have often stated that there was nothing remarkable about it in any way, other than doing miscellaneous odd jobs and busy work during a time of major downsizing. But when some smart-ass liberal asks me "Oh yeah..?!? Well what branch of the military did you serve in?" I reply with "The Navy." And when military discussions are raised in this forum, I sometimes make the point that I am speaking from personal experience. Apparently this offends you in some way.